Buying Bitcoin with a bank account offers both advantages and disadvantages compared to purchasing with a credit or debit card. While Coinmama ensures a reliable service regardless of the payment method, here are the key considerations specific to bank transfers:
Pros:
- Lower fees: Buying Bitcoin with a bank account usually incurs lower fees compared to credit card transactions. Credit card companies typically charge a processing fee of around 5%, whereas bank transfers allow you to maximize the amount of Bitcoin you receive for your fiat currency.
- Support for SEPA accounts: If your bank account is located in the EU or UK and supports SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) payments, you can buy Bitcoin with it. Coinmama accepts MasterCard and VISA cards but extends its services to more users through bank payments.
- Higher limits: Bank account purchases often come with higher daily limits. Currently, Coinmama’s daily limit for bank transfers is over €10,200, which is more than double the limit for credit or debit card transactions (€4,255). If you’re planning to buy a significant amount of Bitcoin, using the bank transfer method makes more sense.
Note: Your purchase limits can increase as you buy more Bitcoin from Coinmama, regardless of the payment method you choose.
Cons:
- Slower processing time: While credit or debit card purchases are typically processed almost instantly, bank transfer purchases take longer. SEPA transfers require more time to process, so it can take a day or two for users to receive their Bitcoins when paying via bank transfer.
- Rate lock-in delay: Bitcoin’s price is known for its volatility. When paying through a bank transfer, the rate you get is locked in at the time Coinmama receives your transfer. Since bank payments can take several hours or even days to process, the price of Bitcoin may change during that period. As a result, you may receive more or fewer coins than expected, depending on whether the price increases or decreases. This makes bank payments less predictable compared to card payments, which are locked in immediately.
- Limited availability: Coinmama’s bank transfer payment method is currently limited to SEPA bank accounts in the EU and UK. While their card payment method supports 188 countries worldwide, bank transfers are restricted to the 33 SEPA countries listed below:
Austria,
Belgium,
Bulgaria,
Croatia,
Cyprus,
Czech Republic,
Denmark,
Estonia,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Hungary,
Iceland,
Ireland,
Italy,
Latvia,
Lichtenstein,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Malta,
Monaco,
The Netherlands,
Norway,
Poland,
Portugal,
Romania,
Slovakia,
Slovenia,
Spain,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
and the United Kingdom.
If you are interested in a step-by-step guide on buying Bitcoin with a bank account on Coinmama, you can refer to our comprehensive guide for details. Click here to access the guide.
