I used to like Bitcoin earning Fold debit card so much that I not only I reviewed it thoroughly but also updated the review time and again. Fold, along with 4% Coinbase debit card, were my go to recommendations for beginners to crypto credit cards. However, due to recent changes Fold card isn’t anywhere as good anymore and let’s talk about why and how that happened.
The problem starts with Fold issuing respin ability left and right. To explain why this is a problem, let me briefly explain how Fold debit card works – when you make a purchase, you spin a wheel to land on a prize. If you don’t like the prize and you happen to have “extra spins” then you can spin the wheel again and hope for a prize you like. You can keep respinning until you land on a prize you like or you run out of “extra spins”. So, the more spins you have the more you likely you are to land on prizes you like (eg 3%+ cashback).
The other side of the problem is blatant abuse of the card and how they fumble around it. They suffer the same issue every fintech company in this space suffers – they got no clue about the cost of manufactured spend. In fact, they actually promoted it. Now to their credit they did eventually kinda (but not really) threaten to shutdown MSers and eventually excessive abuse seems to have lead to shutdown as well (see Miles Per Day).
The problem is all this time they likely bled money (VC money?) and it appears they have no clue how to fix it. The obvious solution (as always) is to get a firm grip on manufactured spenders but most, if not all, the fintechs seem to struggle with it, and Fold is no different. The other obvious solution they should have ran in parallel was to stop handing out extra spins left and right.
Instead, their solution to the problems is a lazy one (haven’t we seen this before?) and involved putting a cap per “good” prize for the entire duration of the wheel. The cap is so bad that it is worth spelling it out:
- limit of 1 win per user per wheel on various “good” prizes. In the current wheel the limits are on the following prizes (see screenshot below):
- 3%, 4%, 5%, and 100% spending match
- $5 prize
- $50 prize
- 1 whole bitcoin
- Even if you had one of these prizes and respin, you lose away your ability to get these prizes again for the entire duration of the wheel.
The problems, because of the way this restriction is put in place, come in two fold. First, if I can’t get 3% or 4% cashback more than once, why would I choose this card?
Second, why would I use this card for small purchases when I haven’t chewed up 3% or 4% yet? You are highly incentivized to collect your spins (which is now super easy to do), make a big purchase (or cough pay stuff) and use up all your spins until you land on 3%+ cashback. Afterward, you repeat to the whole process to land on another 3%+ cashback. And you know what I will do with the card in between? Will I use it for daily spend? NOOO! You are highly incentivized to NOT use the card towards small purchases until you chew through your 3%+ cashback rewards.
Fold was already a card that struggled being a daily driver but now they have taken it to the extreme. Effectively, the Team at Fold has turned their cards into a use once, twice, or maybe thrice, and put it in a sock drawer card during the entire duration of the wheel…and I must commend them for unfolding this brilliant plan…
P.S. Do I still recommend this card? Yes, but for all the wrong reasons.
Signup using the following link and we both get 5,000 sats.
https://use.foldapp.com/r/TRAVELINPOINTS
