E-Coin Rebrands to Wirex, a ‘Hybrid Financial Platform’

E-Coin, the UK-based bitcoin debit card solution and multi-signature wallet provider, is moving away from its old brand as the company, Wirex Limited, intends to become more than just a bitcoin debit card provider.

Under the appellation, there is a suite of banking services and a “hybrid financial platform” that intends to become the one stop platform for users to easily manage their funds in both cryptocurrency and fiat.

Wirex will include mobile banking services via an app, instant remittance services, and a brand new, improved two-way Wirex bitcoin debit card running on both the Visa and Mastercard networks.

The Wirex card and the virtual bitcoin debit card will both support three currencies: USD, GBP and EURO. The company said it intends to add more currency options in the near future.

Wirex said in a blog post that “these three services are designed to close the gap between digital and traditional currencies in everyday financial transactions, and to overcome the limits imposed by traditional financial institutions.”

The new set of services will enable users to easily manage their financial matters, allowing them to instantly send, receive, spend and store funds using simply a smartphone and an Internet connection.

The company indicated that it aimed at eliminating the exorbitant banking and money transfer fees typically changed by traditional financial institutions and money transmitters, alongside the need to physically visit a bank branch or meet with an agent.

Additionally, Wirex has announced a new feature aimed at overcoming bitcoin’s price volatility issue by allowing users to “lock” rates in advance before loading funds onto debit cards.

Other new services in the pipeline include the ability to integrate debit cards into its mobile banking service via the Wirex app, as well as the ability to buy and sell bitcoins on the platform.

During the integration process, Wirex indicated that E-Coin users will be able to continue using E-Coin debit cards as usual.

Launched in early 2015, E-Coin claims a total user base of more than 100,000 individuals, 15,000 E-Coin bitcoin debit cards in circulation, and a monthly transaction volume of over US$2 million.