Is a new type of debit card about to change the face of retail?

Initial Coin Offering (ICO) begins August 15th 2017

Credit cards are serious business, with each of Visa, MasterCard and American Express making billions of dollars in profit every year. And yet, one digital startup believes it's about to instantly disrupt this industry with the launch of Empire Card, a debit card that allows users to spend money using digital currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

Uniquely, the funds and fees generated by users of Empire Card will be shared by all participants in the project instead of by corporate interests. Every time someone uses the card, a very small fee is levied with all of these fees being gathered together and split equally between owners of Empire Coin every month in a totally decentralized model. Empire Card is implemented 100% on the blockchain, meaning 100% of the value is passed onto those card users and holders of Empire Coin.

There will be a range of Empire Cards, in a model comparable to existing credit card companies, including a Black Card, Platinum Card and Gold Card. Participants in the Empire Card ICO will get these for free whereas the general public will need to purchase them, though even these funds will be split among coin owners.

Empire Card's true unique selling point, however, is that it allows users to spend their digital currency while the accepting retailer receives cash. In other words, what is a cryptocurrency transaction for one party (the spender) is a cash transaction for the other party (the retailer). While other projects have produced cryptocurrency debit cards, these tend to immediately transfer the currency into cash as soon as it's loaded onto the card, whereas Empire Card actually holds digital currencies until the very second a transaction is processed. Empire Card does this by using a unique instantaneous exchange mechanism, which allows transactions to be completed immediately, similarly to the way in which banks give a retailer cash while the transaction is still actually 'pending'.

Empire Card is attempting to appeal to the general public by offering elite credit card style perks, such as access to airport lounges and the accrual of air miles. This is being done by diverting a small portion of the funds raised through network fees to partners in the travel industry that will provide unique perks currently reserved for those on expensive credit card plans.

For too long the cryptocurrency world has remained distant from the general public and reserved for a small but passionate grouping. Empire Card is hoping to flip this on its head by connecting the digital and traditional models and recognizing that generally speaking consumers are comfortable with the existing model and not looking to completely alter the way in which they transact. While digital currency has many values to certain subsections of the finance ecosphere, users can be forgiven for asking the point in owning digital currencies when they need to be converted back into cash in order to be spent. Empire Card solves this by ensuring all digital currency is now immediately spendable.

Empire Card is certainly not the first project aiming to break through the digital-fiat divide and introduce currencies like Bitcoin to the public at large. That said, by embracing the traditional banking model and expectations of the general public, they might just be the first to see true widespread adoption.