Bitwage has entered into a partnership with Xapo, to enable workers to directly have their pay deposited into Xapo's bitcoin-based Visa debit Card. The workers can spend these bitcoins at any merchant that accepts Visa, even when the merchant does not accept bitcoin.
This new feature will revolutionise the entire fiat-based financial system. Getting paid in bitcoin can potentially help the overseas workers realize considerable savings from cross-border transfer/exchange fees. However, the user has to bear all bitcoin exchange rate risk until the bitcoins are spent.
Bank account is not needed for this service, making it more attractive in countries with sizeable unbanked populations. At present, employers using their services comprise mostly of bitcoin companies, namely, Bitreserve, ChangeTip and Coinsetter.
