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DashDirect Virtual Visa/MC Proposal Updates

coinsrider said:
Would it be also be coming to countries like India if yes by when can we expect..?
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We appreciate the desire the community has shown to use DashDirect outside the US. We have not launched outside the US yet, but we would like to. It will take funds, time, development, contracting with merchants, legal review, translation services, currency support, and more. We have made inroads on some of these items, but it is not likely that we will launch in other areas without having significant, immediate opportunities in those regions. We are exploring such an opportunity in India and should it come to fruition, it may expedite our expansion into that area.
 
I thought I'd provide an update here, which I just posted in a reply on DashCentral. This is in reference to the DashDirect open-loop card program (fka DashDirect Mastercard). We are finalizing a few agreements with different providers. The goal is to have multiple programs in place, under the hood, with a simple UX/UI on top of it. This will give us redundancy along with more certainty. We have actually been in discussions with the card networks themselves as well, which is a longer process, but allows us to make sure the card network is aligned with us and understands what we are doing before we re-launch with different card issuers. The card networks we are talking to are very interested in working with us on the program. We are enhancing some of the program features as well, which will afford potentially a lot more functionality for the Dash community. I'm 90% certain, personally, that we will relaunch the program in a way that is bigger, better, and stronger. The goal is to do so within 3 months, with an outside possibility it will take longer. The technology has already been built on our end. We have the full card issuance, balance management, asset management, authorization and settlement platform, and the controllers for compliance in place. We are investing our time into developing the relationships we need to ensure long-term program viability and that comes in large part through discovering alignment, disclosing details, allowing the issuer to discuss internally, answering follow on questions, and continuing to iterate on that process until all parties are comfortable with the alignment.
 
When DashDirect was first launched, there were 155K merchants. I'm curious what that number is now? If it's less than, say, 180K, why isn't that number higher? I mean, what is needed to increase the number of merchants? It would be great to create some buzz around this number.

Thanks
 
GrandMasterDash said:
When DashDirect was first launched, there were 155K merchants. I'm curious what that number is now? If it's less than, say, 180K, why isn't that number higher? I mean, what is needed to increase the number of merchants? It would be great to create some buzz around this number.

Thanks
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I believe the current count is close to 170k. There are a fair number of very large merchants who have been in discussions with us and we are finally getting traction with them. Just wait...we have pending agreements which will blow the 180k number out of the water! ;) We'll be making several announcements over the coming weeks.
 
I'm honored to present the new, improved Ionia card programs. We will be building all 3 programs to be available at your choice as a user of DashDirect. Use one, two, all three, or none of the programs as you see fit. Program overview: https://ionia.docsend.com/view/kvuftnzfatn8jtdb

Here are some important details to note:

-Rewards Local is available with no-KYC in 30+ countries and gives 2% discount on the face value at the time of purchase; non-reloadable; funds expire in 4 months
-Rewards Plus is available with no-KYC in the US and has up to 5% Dash back on purchases at over 50,000 merchants; non-reloadable
-Rewards Premium requires KYC and has up to 5% Dash back on purchases at over 50,000 merchants; enables international purchases, ATM withdrawals, P2P transactions, and more; reloadable with no limits

Notably, we are now partnered with issuing banks and we have a relationship directly with Visa as well (more details to follow upon finalizing one more agreement). These relationships promise to help shore up our resilience against potential attack from other parties. We have a full review from outside counsel at a top global fintech law firm, which provides us guidance, assurance, and back-up in the case of inquiry or adverse action.

We appreciate the Dash community; your strong, free spirit and desire to promote the human rights of privacy and freedom. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we paused our program to re-evaluate and rebuild a better, more resistant, more rewarding program. We look forward to launching these new card programs in the coming months. We will have some special offers and incentives for the Dash community specifically and I am excited to be able to bring you an increased level of financial access, freedom, and rewards.

If you have any questions about the new card programs, please direct them here publicly, so everyone can benefit from the questions and answers. Thank you.

On a side note, I've been particularly inspired of late. Here are a few pictures from my trip to NYC last week. May we all continue to fight for human rights and freedoms in the "continuing and expanding conversation in the ever-unfinished story of liberty."
 

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I'm not sure about this.

  • The "local" version is actually international and the "plus" is US only.
  • No KYC for the US Plus but mobile / email required for everyone else. Isn't email / phone a form of soft KYC?
  • No ATM at all unless you KYC.
  • Non-US will lose all unspent funds after just 4 months.
  • Not clear, needs example, $1K max per card, yet $10K max per day. This is to say $1K per day from pre-loaded and $10K per day if you spend directly from crypto? Just want some clarification.
  • What are the 30+ countries?
 
GrandMasterDash said:
I'm not sure about this.

  • The "local" version is actually international and the "plus" is US only.
  • No KYC for the US Plus but mobile / email required for everyone else. Isn't email / phone a form of soft KYC?
  • No ATM at all unless you KYC.
  • Non-US will lose all unspent funds after just 4 months.
  • Not clear, needs example, $1K max per card, yet $10K max per day. This is to say $1K per day from pre-loaded and $10K per day if you spend directly from crypto? Just want some clarification.
  • What are the 30+ countries?
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  • Local was intended to convey that it can be used in your local area, but we debated the name and I'm still debating whether it should be called something else to avoid confusion.
  • The Rewards Local program does not perform any KYC. The bank sends an SMS or Text to allow access to their website. No, asking for information is not KYC. Not in any way shape or form. This is one of the biggest challenges to explain to people. If I tell you my email is [email protected], there is no way in the world you can identify me using that, but more importantly, we are not even attempting to identify the user based on an email or phone number. The Rewards Plus does not perform KYC and does not ask for any information to create a card or use it.
  • The ATM and other restrictions is per the legal requirements.
  • Only the first program has an expiration on the value. This is not something we want, but we cannot get the bank to change their program. We will continue adding programs and features to support non-US persons and merchants without the expiration of funds.
  • If you buy 10 cards for $1,000 each, that's $10,000. You can do that per day.
  • There are more than 30 countries where we have access to the Rewards Local program, but we have to confirm which ones will be feasible to launch. There are about 130+ countries where the program is supported.
 
Thank you for making this clearer.

I understand only email / telephone number are collected and it is a requirement imposed on you by others. It is, in fact, somewhat traceable using warrants. It is also the very same reason why I can't convince financial institutions to switch from SMS 2FA for a more secure TOTP or U2F. Frankly, I find SMS 2FA a PITA for losing / switching SIMs, or expired SIMs. They all know how vulnerable SMS is to SIM swap attacks.

I understand you're attempting to integrate with this crazy antiquated system that is holding us back. But as I previously said, hats off to you for your perseverance, I know I couldn't do it.
 
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GrandMasterDash said:
Thank you for making this clearer.

I understand only email / telephone number are collected and it is a requirement imposed on you by others. It is, in fact, somewhat traceable using warrants. It is also the very same reason why I can't convince financial institutions to switch from SMS 2FA for a more secure TOTP or U2F. Frankly, I find SMS 2FA a PITA for losing / switching SIMs, or expired SIMs. They all know how vulnerable SMS is to SIM swap attacks.

I understand you're attempting to integrate with this crazy antiquated system that is holding us back. But as I previously said, hats off to you for your perseverance, I know I couldn't do it.
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Actually, for the Rewards Local program, either email or phone can be used. While law enforcement could obtain the information (email or phone), the email and phone have not been kyc'd, which means you can use whatever. Just setup a private email for transactions and use that. Since no other information is being captured, you're golden. The email address is not tied to your identity. I made test transactions using this program this week. It works perfectly with an email address. You have 10 minutes to confirm an OTP sent to the email address in order to login to the bank's portal. That's what it is used for. The process for activating the card isn't great and we are working to see if we can automate it to make it a cleaner UX.
 
Two months since the last update, anything new?

Btw, can't install DashDirect from the Philippines, Play store says "country not supported", even though companies like Amazon are doing free delivery here. I'm an apk person but just nudging you about this.

Btw btw, I get similar problems when using the bitrefill website. Even if I set my country as "United States" they deny purchases, so I always have to switch the VPN to the US.
 
GrandMasterDash said:
Two months since the last update, anything new?

Btw, can't install DashDirect from the Philippines, Play store says "country not supported", even though companies like Amazon are doing free delivery here. I'm an apk person but just nudging you about this.

Btw btw, I get similar problems when using the bitrefill website. Even if I set my country as "United States" they deny purchases, so I always have to switch the VPN to the US.
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Thanks for the nudge. We have been building the products and have made a ton of progress. Here are a few relevant updates for the community:

  • We signed an agreement with Visa, to officially become a Visa Fintech partner! We are getting their approval on the press release. This was one of the most important accomplishments to finalize for the long-term viability of the program. We will post the press release once it is approved.
  • Outside counsel has given us a memorandum, which gives us confirmation that the program design is compliant with FinCEN rules and guidance. Two of the programs will have no Customer Information Program, meaning no KYC will be performed for the Visa Rewards Local (soon to be renamed) and Visa Rewards Plus programs. Having outside counsel provide this memorandum is a major milestone and helps bolster the banks' understanding and give us a measure of protection, should it be needed. The memorandum is internal and no other party may rely upon it, but it gives us confidence in the direction and design of the programs.
  • We have decided to ask the community for feedback/voting on the card designs for this program. We have several ready to submit to the community, but we want to include one more. Once these are done, we will post an informal poll for community voting.
  • We have approval from the first issuing bank as to the program design and requirements and have begun integration to their platform.
  • We have signed approximately 50k locations from 7,000 merchant brands to join our card-linked rewards program. This means you can use your Visa at their locations or on their websites and earn Dash as a reward for your purchase!
  • We built, tested, and launched our Dash Rewards platform, which will send Dash to users as a reward for activities like referring another user, making a purchase at a participating merchant, etc.
  • Our UX/UI is almost complete, and we believe it represents a simple, intuitive interface and experience for users, whether they are new to Dash or seasoned veterans of our community.
  • We have also made huge improvements to the Visa Rewards Local (soon to be renamed) program, making the user experience much better.
There is still work to be done, but we have our team focused on the Visa program launch and we look forward to sharing more details.

With regard to international support, we are working to add many, many merchants outside the US (about 30 other countries) and we will allow the app to be downloaded from non-US app stores in conjunction with the international launch. We do have to add support for each local currency and language, which will be the heaviest lift for this effort.

If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to share with me here or directly through PM. Thank you for the ongoing support!
 
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