TakeawaysSaudi Arabia has embarked on its Vision 2030 initiative, embracing the digital economy and simplifying payments by smartphone and card. Yet, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) continues to put up barriers for crypto payments, restricting crypto usage in the country and issuing multiple warnings about these digital currencies. So I turned to a client from Saudi Arabia for an opinion, wondering how difficult using crypto there really is. Turns out, it’s a challenge. Local banks often avoid crypto transactions or make the process complex, cumbersome, and pricy, so converting crypto into everyday spending money is all but straightforward. However, this is the exact reason this client is using crypto cards, as they allow him to avoid restrictions, keep control over his funds, and use the card like he does his regular debit cards. He says others often ask him can I get a crypto card in Saudi Arabia? Yes, you can get a crypto card by opening a PlasBit account, completing KYC verification, and ordering it on your dashboard. The virtual card can be issued within a few minutes and a plastic card will reach Saudi Arabia within 5 business days via DHL.
You can then use your card to spend crypto online and in stores, withdraw cash from an ATM, or send money to your family in another country if you’re an expat. Either way, you will not depend on a Saudi bank to convert the coins first.
Why Many People in Saudi Arabia Use Crypto Cards
More than 10 million workers in Saudi Arabia are foreign nationals, mostly from South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Millions come every year in search of work in order to support their families back home by sending them funds regularly. However, traditional ways to move funds via money transfer services such as Western Union and MoneyGram are expensive and very restrictive, because you need to find a specific location where you can receive that money, and you can only do it during working hours.
Sending crypto back home may be fast and cheap, but that does not mean the family member can immediately use the money. They still need a practical way to pay for groceries, cover bills, or withdraw cash, and that is where the solution explained in this article can help.
We’ll tell you how to bypass all those expensive services. An Indian worker in Saudi Arabia can order a plastic crypto card and then send it to his family back in India. This way, whenever the worker wants to send some funds to his wife, he simply tops up the card with crypto in a matter of seconds, and the wife can go straight to an ATM with the plastic card, use the PIN to access it, and withdraw cash just like she would from a regular bank card. So, instead of wiring money every time the salary comes in, the worker can convert part of their salary into crypto and load it onto a PlasBit crypto card to send to his wife.
She will feel no difference when using the crypto card compared to a traditional one, but both the worker and the wife will notice that this brief process completely eliminates all those repeated traditional international transfers and high fees. Also, neither of them is restricted by working hours, as crypto and ATMs are available 24/7. By doing this, the worker essentially becomes his own money transfer service, loading the card whenever needed so his wife can access the money at any time.
If that sounds like a more convenient way to manage your money, the next step is learning how to order your crypto card in Saudi Arabia and get it ready to be used. It takes just seven simple steps.
Step 1: Log in to your Dashboard, click Wallet on the left-hand side, and deposit your preferred crypto. For this example, we’re using USDT.
Step 2: Go to the Cards section, select the card you’d like to buy, and click the Get This Card button.
Step 3: Confirm your order by clicking Submit and wait shortly for the card order confirmation.
Step 4: Once your card has been successfully issued, you will receive a notification via email.
Step 5: Now, return to the Cards section and click Open Card on your new PlasBit Card.
Step 6: To continue with the next step, you’ll need your card details, so click the View Card Details button and enter the code that was sent via email. Then you will be able to see your card number, expiry date, and CVV. For security reasons, you’ll need to re-enter the code every time you want to see the details.
Step 7: Finally, you just need to load the balance onto the card to be able to use it. Go to the Funding tab and choose the wallet you wish to charge, in this case, USDT. Next, enter the amount you want to add and press Load.
That's it, your card is all set, and you can start using it online and in stores, at any seller that accepts traditional payment cards. As soon as the physical card arrives at your address, you can use it as well, or send it to a family member to use.
Using Crypto Instead of Saudi P2P Bank Transfers
Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest-growing crypto economies and home to a big peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace culture, with multi-billion-dollar trading volumes and some 15% of the adult population trading crypto.
Most people there choose to buy and sell USDT, and they do it through one of the P2P marketplaces, instead of making bank transfers. This is a key point, because P2P trading has one person transferring money directly to another person’s bank account in exchange for the stablecoin. The banks have no reason to know that this transfer is in any way related to crypto, because it appears simply as a payment between two private individuals, and the money landing in the account is fiat.
This may be a good workaround for smaller amounts, but the larger a transaction is, the more risk it carries. The sheer size of it could trigger the bank’s alarms and make it look into the transfer, in which case, they’ll ask for more information, flag the transaction, and potentially even freeze the account. Should this happen to you, even if it’s temporary, you won’t have access to your funds for an undetermined period of time until the bank is done investigating.
Another issue is fraud, because criminals use legitimate but stolen bank accounts to buy crypto through P2P platforms. When the real account owner reports the theft, the crypto purchase is swiftly linked to fraud, which means that the seller will likely be investigated and could see their own funds frozen, though they had no involvement in the theft itself. Because of incidents like these, some P2P markets have a very bad reputation.
For all these reasons, it simply makes more sense to use a regulated platform like PlasBit from the very start, as it will perform all the necessary steps and identity verification to help lower the risks. In this case, there’s no room for unknown parties, and users always transact within an environment that fully complies with local financial rules, reducing the chances of fraudulent activity affecting legitimate customers.
Spending Crypto in Saudi Arabia With a Plastic Card
Your PlasBit crypto card is issued virtually, but as a person residing in Saudi Arabia, you’ll also get a plastic card delivered to your door in a few days. This card is just like a traditional debit card, and you’ll see no difference when using it, be it for in-store purchases and contactless payments, or cash withdrawals from local ATMs.
The PlasBit plastic card allows you to withdraw up to $500 per day in cash, with a maximum of five ATM withdrawals each day and a monthly withdrawal limit of $5,000.
As for purchases, you can spend up to $30,000 a day, $30,000 a month, and $200,000 a year. This higher limit makes the card suitable for both everyday purchases and larger transactions, depending on your needs.
However, when choosing a card, our advice for Saudi residents is to choose a USD-denominated crypto card, not a euro-denominated one. That's because the Saudi riyal (SAR) has been pegged to the US dollar for 40 years now at 3.75 SAR per 1 USD. This is a fixed exchange rate, making it very easy to know exactly how much each purchase costs in SAR. The euro is not a good choice here because its value fluctuates against the riyal, so the final conversion rate can easily vary from one day to the next.
KYC Requirements for Saudi Crypto Cards
Regulated crypto exchanges must verify the identity of every customer before they issue them a card, and they do it through the process known as Know Your Customer (KYC). This is a necessary step, and it helps these regulated platforms prevent fraud, money laundering, and a wide range of financial crimes that unregulated platforms may deal with.
To check the person's identity, PlasBit needs an ID, a passport, or a driver's license, depending on the country the user lives in. To check the person's address, PlasBit needs a recent utility bill, a proof-of-address paper, or a residence permit.
For users in Saudi Arabia specifically, PlasBit accepts passports as proof of identity, but not ID cards or driver's licenses. You can use utility bills to prove your address in the Kingdom and receive the plastic card via mail, shipped directly to that address.
The image shows supported options for the KYC procedure for PlasBit customers residing in Saudi Arabia, as well as the option to get the plastic card delivered.
KYC is not an optional process, and both banks and crypto card providers must complete it for each customer because they work under the same regulatory framework. They will then send the required verified information to Visa or Mastercard, aiming to lower the likelihood of financial fraud affecting them and their customers. While some may see it as a cumbersome procedure, it needs to be done only once.
Can I Withdraw Cash in Saudi Arabia With a Crypto Card?
As soon as you load your card with cryptocurrency, getting cash from it is no different from withdrawing cash with your regular bank card. If you’re a Saudi resident asking yourself, can I withdraw cash in Saudi Arabia with a crypto card, yes, use your plastic crypto card on any ATM like you would any other banking card. The daily withdrawal limit is €/$500 with PlasBit's card.
When you order a physical card, PlasBit will ship it to Saudi Arabia, directly to your verified address, free of charge, meaning you don’t pay for the card or the shipping. We send it through DHL, and you can expect it at your door within five business days. Once you have it in your hands, you can withdraw the Saudi riyal from Saudi ATMs yourself or, if you’re working in the country and are supporting the family back home, you can send it to a family member to withdraw cash at the local ATM.
Can I Buy Groceries With a Crypto Card in Saudi Arabia?
The Saudi client I mentioned at the beginning told me that non-crypto users around him, including friends and family, get very surprised when he tells them how easy it is to spend crypto for everyday purchases, particularly groceries. They believed that crypto is impossible, or at least incredibly difficult, to use to buy things like vegetables, rice, chicken, or dates, for example, and many ask can I buy groceries with a crypto card in Saudi Arabia? Yes, you can by using your crypto card like a regular bank card in any supermarket or a grocery store that accepts debit cards. Either you swipe your plastic crypto card on the terminal or connect your card to your phone wallet such as Apple or Google Pay and tap it.
This is one of the biggest advantages of a crypto card, because as soon as your crypto lands on it, it becomes spendable. The card allows you to actually use your digital assets every day, whenever you take a trip to a supermarket, instead of treating crypto only as an investment that sits in your wallet.
The only difference between your crypto card and your traditional bank card is that you load one with crypto, and this in no way affects the spending. As soon as it’s loaded, the coins are converted to fiat, so neither you nor the seller (nor the ATM) will notice anything uncommon about the transaction.
There are more advantages, as you don’t need to go through your bank first, and you can spend only the amount you loaded, maintaining control over the spending.
Is a Crypto Card Legal in Saudi Arabia?
There is no legislation that bans a crypto card in Saudi Arabia, but its financial authorities are not particularly crypto-friendly and regularly remind consumers that digital assets aren’t recognized as legal tender. So, what’s the bottom line? Is a crypto card legal in Saudi Arabia? Yes, a crypto card is legal in Saudi Arabia because there is no law banning them, but the Saudi government told local banks to avoid crypto payments, so they do not offer crypto cards and Saudis usually get a crypto card from outside Saudi Arabia.
That is a key point, and it means that SAMA doesn’t currently allow local banks to support or deal in digital assets, so they can’t issue any form of a crypto card in Saudi Arabia either. Also, no domestic company or platform can hold any government license to issue a crypto-backed payment card.
Turning to international platforms that can legally offer this service, as they’re not based in the Kingdom, allows Saudi crypto users to spend digital assets and stay outside the traditional Saudi banking system.
Conclusion
Many Saudis and expats living in the Kingdom own crypto but run into a lot of trouble when they want to send these funds to a Saudi bank account and to use it for everyday spending through local banks. If a bank decides to investigate a transfer, it may freeze the entire account.
To avoid these issues and not have to rely on a third party, Saudis can put their crypto into a secure wallet and treat it as their bank account. When they want to spend their coins, there is no need to convert them into fiat first, which costs time and money. They can simply send the amount they want to their crypto card and then use that card for all purchases or cash withdrawals, because it functions as any other bank card.
