How To Buy Bitcoin Using Your Bank or Checking Account

This post has been updated in July 2019 to reflect changes in the app.

In this post, we’ll look at how buying bitcoin with a supported bank account works, and the steps you need to take to start #StackingSats.

One of the biggest things to understand is that you can use the Abra app to send, receive, and hodl bitcoin all right in the app. (Also, on a related note, check out this post on crypto-cost averaging.)

Several ways to buy bitcoin with a bank account

Today, the Abra wallet supports several ways to buy bitcoin in the app: Bank account ACH transfers, bank wire transfers, and by using a credit card. Bank account (ACH) transfers are available in the US and the Philippines, while SEPA bank transfers are available in Europe.

We’ll cover how to buy bitcoin with your bank account via ACH transfer. If you are interested in investing in other assets via Abra, then you can also follow these instructions.

Here is a list of the cryptoassets currently available in the app.

Buying bitcoin with bank account (ACH) transfers

As mentioned above, bank account transfers are available in the US and the Philippines. In the US, Abra works with the fintech company Plaid to make thousands of banks and credit unions available to connect to the Abra app.

STEP 1: Add money to your Abra wallet from your bank account

From the portfolio screen of your Abra app, press the “add money” button (it’s in the bottom menu). This will take you to the screen with the different options for funding your wallet. Depending on where you are in the world, you will see the funding options available in your area. If bank transfers are available, you will see the bank transfer and/or the bank wire transfer displayed here.

If the bank transfer option is available, and you want to initiate a bank transfer, select the “Bank ACH transfer” button and then select your bank account.

Note: The sequence of steps is different for the Philippines, so please follow the instructions within the app.

There is a $2,000 daily limit on ACH transfers. If you need higher limits, check out the Abra wire program.

After initiating the deposit from your bank, it usually takes one to two business days for your funds to become available in the app. You will receive a notification from Abra once the funds are in the app and ready to use to purchase bitcoin. (Make sure you have push notifications enabled on your phone.)

STEP 2: Adding bitcoin to your portfolio

Now that you have money in your Abra wallet, you can convert that balance into bitcoin. Bitcoin can be purchased in fractional amounts (in other words, you don’t need to buy an entire bitcoin at once, you can start by buying a minimum of $5).

Make sure that bitcoin is part of your portfolio. To check, look at the list on your home screen. If it’s not on that list, tap the “Manage Assets” menu from the upper right corner of the app. Then select bitcoin from the crypto asset menu. Once selected, bitcoin will be added to your portfolio. You will also see the other assets that are available from this screen.

STEP 3: Converting assets to bitcoin

Navigate back to portfolio screen by hitting the back button. Then hit the “Exchange” button in the bottom part of the app.

Next, input the amount you want to transfer. In this example, we’re converting the entire USD wallet balance into the bitcoin wallet, so we would select the “convert maximum available balance” button.

You will then be asked to confirm the transaction, so make sure everything is correct. Once you confirm, your transaction will process, and you’ll get your bitcoin.

Success! You have just completed a purchase of bitcoin with your Abra wallet.

(Note that all bitcoin transactions are subject to a blockchain confirmation time, which ranges from 10 minutes to several hours, depending on network congestion. Until the transaction is confirmed, you will not be able to move your bitcoin from Abra to an external bitcoin wallet. That is why your “available balance” might differ from your wallet balance for a short period of time.

Don’t yet have an Abra wallet? Download the app here (for iOS or Android).

Written by

John Light

katherine

798 days ago

Thanks for the article, this is very interesting information.

Riz

1089 days ago

The app is good

Suresh Govindarajan

1166 days ago

I am not able to add money to my wallet using BANK ACH transfer. Have already added the Bank Account Details already. All it says is ‘Unable to process transaction at this time’

Daniel McGlynn

1163 days ago

Suresh,

Please get in touch with Abra’s support team. They will be able to help figure out what’s going on. The best way to reach them is to email [email protected]. Thanks.

Esther

1244 days ago

Hi ABRA Team, when are you going to add UK banks? Can’t wait! Thanks!!

Matt Taylor

Hi Ester,

No timeline yet, but we are working on it!

Aloy

1272 days ago

Can I purchase btc when my bank account balance is zero or negative (overdraft)?

1267 days ago

That is a question for your bank. In most circumstances where you a $0 balance, your bank will not allow you to make further purchases with that account.

Marvin

1399 days ago

i have landbank and metrobank acc., i want to deposit via metrobank online , there is a problem?
Target / Biller Account is inactive or invalid. Please check with the biller company/recipient.

Liz O'Donnell

1398 days ago

The full list of methods available for depositing and withdrawing into and out of your Abra wallet may be found here.

At this time, in the Philippines, the only bank which supports depositing into an Abra wallet is UnionBank. We are working on ways to support more banks for deposits, but have nothing to announce at this time.

Karl nyberg

1406 days ago

Why does the bank matter for ACH deposits? I can provide routing number and acct number for Gate City Bank. Would like to switch to you from Coinbase.

Hi Karl, we have a list of banks where you can fund your wallet by simply logging in securely using your bank username and password.

For banks not on that list, we have an alternative process. Please note that it may take several extra days to verify your account using this method.

Sam

1408 days ago

Hello I am in Toronto Canada but have an account with a USA based bank in Georgia in USD which is what I would like to use to fund my account in USD through an ACH transfer or direct deposit. Is that possible.

1407 days ago

Unfortunately, I can’t offer you a definitive answer either way. You are welcome to try.

Here is a list of US banks we support via a 3rd-party secured login with your username and password:

For other US banks, you may use an alternate means of account verification.

steven Cariati

1417 days ago

MY bank account is at a credit union.
Can this be used from a New York credit union?

Hi Steven, if your bank is not on this list, you can verify your bank account through an alternate process, described here.

Mo

1419 days ago

Can I transfer money from my wells fargo account in the US (USD) to another bank account in Spain (Euro)?

1418 days ago

Hi Mo,

You may link your US bank account and purchase bitcoin through the Abra app. You can then transfer that bitcoin to an external Bitcoin wallet that supports European banking, like Coinbase, and then withdraw the money to your Spanish bank account. If you have further questions, please email us at [email protected].

Reyron

1427 days ago

I don’t understand why you only allow Unionbank to fund your Abra wallet (thru deposits) and not include other decent banks like BDO and BPI. Does this mean that only Unionbank has better offers to Abra?

Hi Reyron,

Thanks for your feedback. We are looking into other banking options and want to enable Abra users to be able to link their bank accounts. If you have further questions or suggestions, please email us at [email protected].

Misael

I will like to use my Bank to buy BITCOIN.
BBV Bank.

Thanks for your interest. Although we currently don’t support BBVA, we’re always working with our banking partners to support more banks. Check back periodically to see which options are available. Here are some helpful links:
– Funding options by country
– Supported banks

For US banks not on the list above, we are currently working on verification methods. You may also consider our wire program. You can find details about that Supported banks” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>here.

howard marshall

1431 days ago

hello john i have a question when you want to initiate an ACH transfer what is needed ? the login to my acc or just my acc and routing numbers ?

1430 days ago

Hi Howard. You need to log in with your username and password. We use a secure third-party provider to connect to your account and we do not store your account details. You can see an overview of the process here.

Two wallets are better than one! Hold both fiat and bitcoin at the same time in Abra - Abra

1439 days ago

[…] way you go about buying & selling bitcoin within Abra changes. We’ve updated our popular Using Abra to buy bitcoin with your bank account post accordingly. Have a […]

sol

1440 days ago

What is the transaction fee for buying bitcoin using Abra?

There’s no transaction fee but if you withdraw your bitcoin to an external wallet, we do charge a network fee to cover the costs of the mining fee. We do not profit off this fee. Please see our Fees Page for more info.

Creg Howard

1449 days ago

I don’t have a smart phone. Can I use my iPad (iOS, of course) and my cell phone (does text messages) instead?

1436 days ago

Yes, that should work.

Bear in mind that we only support one device per wallet so if you ever do get a smartphone, you’ll have to choose which device you want to keep your wallet on. If you ever want to transfer your wallet between devices, please consult our FAQs.

Tony

1454 days ago

Hi, I used bank to deposit fund to my wallet to buy bitcoin this morning for the first time, but 20 minutes late I got a notification saying “Deposit Cancelled”, and “Per your request, this transaction has been canceled”. I never request to cancel it.

Later on, I tried again with a different amount, then a window popped up saying “Oops, an unexpected error has occurred. Please try again”. It happened every time since.

What happened? Thank you.

1453 days ago

Hi Tony, sorry to hear you’re having trouble. We can’t comment on individual issues on our blog but our customer support team would be happy to help you out. For the quickest answer, email them from within the app: Open app > Menu > Contact Us > [Describe your issue] > Send

Bret

1460 days ago

hello, i couldn’t find it in your site so i have to ask what Philippine banks do you support for bitcoin transaction and the steps for how we go about this? thanks in advance

Hi Bret, sorry you couldn’t find this info on our site.

Here is the list of Philippine banks supported (the list is different for deposits vs. withdrawals — i.e. purchases vs. sales): https://support.abra.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005236627-Which-banks-credit-unions-does-Abra-work-with-new

To purchase bitcoin using Abra in the Philippines, this article should be helpful: https://www.abra.com/blog/using-abra-buy-bitcoin-philippines/

Note that the process for depositing funds into your Abra wallet from a Philippines bank is currently different from the process for US banks. Here’s more info on that: https://support.abra.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000821548-How-do-I-deposit-into-my-wallet-using-a-bank-Philippines-new-

Ronio

1467 days ago

Do I need to verify my I.D before I can add my bank account or buy with bank transfer? And how much(Amount in $$$$) is the maximum I can buy weekly with bank transfer?

Hi Ronio:

As for ID, in most cases, no ID verification will be required for our standard limits, but in some cases additional verification will be requested:
https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005174567-Is-any-documentation-required-for-bank-deposits-and-withdrawals-new-

As for limits, you can find them here:
https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002918627-What-are-Abra-s-transaction-limits-new-

Let us know if there’s anything else we can help with!

Rejean Bourgeois

1478 days ago

HOW ABOUT ADDING CANADIAN BANKS IN THE LIST OF SUPPORTED BANKS.

Hi Rejean! We’d love to support Canadian banks at some point in the near future. We’ll let you know when we do.

Bibop G. Gresta

1479 days ago

I tried to send the mail with the app, but the SEND button is always disabled!

Hi! Sounds like you’re trying to contact our customer support team? You can always email them at [email protected] if for some reason you can’t do so from within the app.

The Abra app uses your phone’s native email function for emails to support. It would also be helpful to take a screenshot and/or describe to our support team exactly where you’re having difficulty sending an email (is the [email protected] email not prepopulating in the “to” field? That’s the only reason I can think why your phone’s native email client would disable the ‘send’ button). That way, we can figure out whether there’s a bug we need to address.

Ruvan

1516 days ago

Yes I’m having the same issue with you guys. I got notification that My Chase Bank Withdrawal cancelled by my request. Which is not true. I never requested to cancel my Withdrawal request. I think your system has lot of errors. Because I tried to initiate another withdraw request all I get is “OOPS, an unexpected error has occurred. Please try again.” I sent email to [email protected] and still waiting for a reply.

Max Dees

1512 days ago

Hey Ruvan,

I am sorry to hear that your having trouble using Abra. Has support responded yet? If not please let me know, I can inform them of your experience.

Thanks,
Max

Mark H

1484 days ago

I can’t figure out how to use ABRA. I finally got the app to download on my phone but it won’t let me enter my bank account information, so I’m stuck. Does ANYBODY know if this is even a real site? If it is then why doesn’t it work? I have been trying to buy bitcoin since it was under $200.00 a coin and nobody will teach me how to sign up. I am so fucking pissed at all these sites that say how easy it is to open a wallet… so I join there service to learn how and I get scammed. I wonder if this is just another scam. All I want is to open a wallet and transfer funds from my bank to bitcoin. I’m running out of money just paying people to teach me. Nobody will teach me, even after years of asking for help.

Hi Mark, I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble. It sounds like you’re having trouble adding your bank account. There could be a number of reasons for this.

Our customer support team is very responsive and would be happy to help you. The easiest way to contact them is by email – open up your Abra app, go the menu in the upper right hand corner, click on the ‘Contact Us’ link, and send an email from your phone.

Hope they can help you get sorted out!

kate

1520 days ago

I have been trying to withdraw USD as a transfer to my Bank of America checking account and it is NOT working. I have attempted to do this over and over again but each time I get to the last step (after choosing bank account & entering amount), I get the message…”OOPS, an unexpected error has occurred. Please try again.”

When I sent my bitcoin to ABRA it was deposited almost instantly, and converted into USD. My balance is $222.00 and this is really frustrating because it is my money.

What is going on?

I just want my money and this app is supposed to do this easily, so what is the problem?

Please help….thank you in advance.

1517 days ago

Hey Kate,

Thanks for reaching out. If you recently funded your wallet, you have to wait several days before you can withdraw. If it has been over a week since you deposited, please send a message to [email protected], and they can look at the problem for you.

Scott Freeman

1529 days ago

My bank/your system keeps requiring a Verification Code. I’ve entered in various codes MULTIPLE times. I’ve entered them accurately every time. And your platform keeps telling me “The connection to the server failed.”. That’s false and impossible. I’ve got great connection. What is going on here? How can I add money if your system won’t let me?

1527 days ago

Hey Scott,

I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I’ve forwarded your comment to our support team, and they will be in contact with you to fix this problem. Thanks for your patience.

Best Regards,
Max

1444 days ago

I have this same problem with two different checking accounts:

Capital One 360 (asks for SMS code)
Charles Schwab (no SMS but same error)

As many times as I’ve tried, I would assume that the requests are not even reaching the banks, as I would’ve heard from them by now.

Hi Tony, sorry you’re having trouble. For account-specific issues, please contact our customer support team, as we are unable to resolve individual issues on our blog.

1530 days ago

What is the Transaction Fee for withdrawing money from my Bank Account? I see on iPayYou.com, for example, “We charge a flat fee of 3% for ACH transfers from the largest USA Banks.”

What is your fee?

Good question. On bank deposits/withdrawals Abra does not explicitly make a fee %. We may make a small amount on the conversion rate, depending on the transaction. To check out more information on Abra fees, check out this link: https://www.abra.com/fees/

Hope this helps,
Max

Lawrence Tenan

1542 days ago

I am too old to follow the instructions to get started. Is it possible to some to speak with me and help me get
going with placing transactions. Phone number is 310-666-2234

1541 days ago

Hey Lawrence,

I’ve forwarded your message to our support team. They will be in contact with you shortly.

Max

Ed

1550 days ago

Hello Team Abra,
Is there any possibility that you can use Cebuana Lhuiller(Philippines) or 7-11 (Philippines) to Cash-In to Abra aside from banks?

1548 days ago

Hey Ed,

Currently we do not support these shops in the Philippines as a means of cashing in or out of your Abra wallet. If you want to use cash to cash in to your Abra wallet, you can use an Abra Teller or a Tambunting pawnshop.

David Schrader

1551 days ago

I funded ABRA with $700 from my bank and that shows up in Completed transactions. I converted that to BTC and would like to send it to Poloniex. However, the withdrawl amount says $0.00 is available to withdraw?

Hey David,

Thanks for reaching out. For security purposes, there is a 1-3 business day wait time before you can withdraw your Bitcoin.

-Max

Jean Dudley

1560 days ago

I have contacted my bank and have my phone number updated. Will you submit info to get second level of security sent to my phone? Thank You

Using Abra to buy bitcoin in the Philippines - Abra

1566 days ago

[…] https://www.goabra.com/blog/using-abra-buy-bitcoin-bank-account/ […]

Craig

1589 days ago

I’m confused about limits. Am I to understand that I can only deposit and convert to Bitcoin $2,000/ month? Or can I do more under “user initiated ” with no limits?

Hi Craig, you can find our current limits on this page: https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002918627-What-are-Abra-s-transaction-limits-new-

“User initiated” means transactions that are sent to other Abra users or bitcoin addresses once there are funds in the wallet.

Gene Gropunds

1602 days ago

Hi John: I tried to set up using my bank, which is on your list, but nowwhere in their system could they find me anyone who knew about dealing with Abra. I’m willing to try to set them up as I know some top people but I want to be specific when I talk with them. 1- What information does Abra need from the Bank? 2- How will Abra be contacting the bank and what will they be sending or requesting? 3- Is there anything that the bank needs to sign with you to set this up? 4- What info do you need from me in this transaction?
I look forward to your reply.

1601 days ago

Hi Gene, if you go through the steps of adding your bank account, the app will walk you through step-by-step what you need to do to add your bank. If you still have questions, you can create a support ticket by pressing the “Contact us” button in the main menu of the app so our Customer Support team can help you out.

DavidG

1595 days ago

John, I’ve been trying for weeks to connect my Abra app to my South State Bank account and I can never login. But if I use my South State Bank app on my phone, I can login and review my account information with no problems. As the other gentleman mentioned, no one at the bank has any idea how to deal with Abra. I’ve sent several messages to Abra via the Contact Us link but never get any responses. What can I do?

1590 days ago

Hi David, please open a support ticket so our customer support team can help you with this issue. You can create a ticket by pressing the “Contact us” button in the main menu of the app.

I did so previously and got no response. But I’ll try again …

Will

1614 days ago

If I have two bank accounts can I deposit $2000.00 monthly or $1000.00?

1604 days ago

Hi Will, the limits are per-user, not per-bank account, so your total deposits are limited according to the chart on this page: https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002918627-What-are-Abra-s-transaction-limits-new-

Jep

1621 days ago

Is it allowed to have more than one Abra account for the same person (registered using 2 different email accounts and mobile numbers ). I was thinking that with this added bitcoin functionality it may be advantageous to have one wallet always in bitcoin and the other at your fiat currency of choice so that this “fiat wallet’s” funds are not impacted by bitcoin’s volatile nature when you always convert from one to the other. Just wondering.

Hi Jep yes you can have more than one wallet, just not on the same phone. So you would have to have two phones and two phone numbers to have multiple wallets. Several users have asked us for “multiwallet” functionality on the same device so this is something we’re exploring but no timeline on when that could be released.

1620 days ago

Thanks for the reply. Although I suspect it might work with Samsung Knox as essentially this creates a separate Android instance on the same device if I’m not mistaken. Will going to try it out. Thanks again.

Dennis Egge

1622 days ago

Thanks John, The two deposits in question were made on 4/28. They still haven’t converted. All other deposits after that have, so I guess I’m still confused.

Please create a support ticket by pressing the “Contact us” button in the main menu of the app so that our Customer Support team can investigate this issue.

When I first started with Abra my currency was in US dollars. I made two deposits of $100 each which showed in my account as dollars not Bitcoin. I then realized I needed to select Bitcoin as my currency. Everything else I have deposited since then is now in Bitcoin. My problem is how do I now convert the $200 into Bitcoin???

Hi Dennis, thanks for your interest! Great question. The Abra wallet only supports holding one currency at a time in your wallet. If you changed your wallet currency to BTC, then all money that you add to the wallet will be automatically converted into BTC and all money currently in your wallet will also be converted to BTC. So if your wallet currency is BTC, and you have money in your wallet, it is already converted into BTC. If you want to withdraw the BTC in your wallet to another bitcoin wallet, select “Bitcoin” on the “Withdrawal” page and follow the normal send bitcoin flow from there. Hope this helps – let me know if you have any other questions about this.

Steve

1624 days ago

This daily limit negates the reason many people open an Abra account. I want to purchase Bitcoins as an investment, so I need to purchase thousands of dollars of Bitcoins. I can’t do that when a purchase request of $100 is denied! Is there a way to provide credentials to Synapse since you seem to be passing the ball to them?

Hi Steve, as you point out, Abra can be used for buying smaller amounts of bitcoin but isn’t the right product to use if you want to buy thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin. For that, you may be interested in this blog post I wrote recently; I include a list of exchanges and brokerages at the end that can help you buy larger amounts of bitcoin: https://beyourownbankbook.wordpress.com/2017/04/18/creating-your-personal-bitcoin-vault/

Edward Goldzimer

1626 days ago

Why is my daily limit only $250.00 from my bank when my balance is in the mid 5 figures. Also, is the money being transferred via ACH or wire. Can it be wired?

1625 days ago

Hi Edward! Thanks for your interest. The daily limit is a limit imposed by Abra’s bank integration partner Synapse. This limit is put in place to prevent the platform from being abused by identity thieves and other fraudsters. All bank transfers processed by Synapse are processed as ACH transactions. They do not accept wire transfers.

David

1631 days ago

On TD Bank login page, user name and password are needed. What are those? My account number and TD Bank routing numbers should be all that is required.

Scott

1629 days ago

I’m in the same situation and of the opinion that linkage should be capable with just account number and routing number via moneylink.

Did you receive a response ?

Hi Scott, thanks for your interest! Our bank integration partner Synapse uses the customer’s bank login details to process each transaction. You can read more about why they do this on their FAQ: https://help.synapsepay.com/hc/en-us/articles/223162448-Online-Logins-vs-Account-Routing-Numbers

You can also find information about Synapse’s security policies here: https://help.synapsepay.com/hc/en-us/sections/200928257-Security

Hi David, thanks for your interest! Please create a support ticket by pressing the “Contact Us” button in the main menu of the app and our Customer Support team will be happy to help you link your bank account.

Jeff

1635 days ago

Hi John – During setup of my bank (Chase) Abra is requiring my social security number. Is this a new requirement as I have read in other articles stating this was not required? I’m reluctant to enter my number for obvious reasons so I would appreciate your comments. Thanks!

Hi Jeff, thanks for your interest! I certainly understand your reluctance to enter this sensitive information. This is a new requirement imposed by our banking partner to ensure the security of your funds and help prevent your bank account from being fraudulently accessed by identity thieves. Abra does not store or access this information, it is passed along directly to our banking partner Synapse over an encrypted channel. You can learn more about how they use this information on their website: https://help.synapsepay.com/hc/en-us/sections/200928257-Security

Deco

1632 days ago

Hi John… I don’t have a SSN (I don’t live in US), but still want to load Abra from my US banking account. How can I manage that situation? Cheers

Hi Deco, thanks for your interest! Please create a ticket with Customer Support so they can help you with this question. You can do this by pressing the “Contact us” button in the main menu of the app.

Michael

1500 days ago

Hi John,
What if I’ve renounced my slave number and no longer care to use it?

1499 days ago

Then a bank or card won’t be an option for you. Fortunately, there are plenty of options for buying and selling bitcoin with cash, including Abra:
https://www.abra.com/blog/using-abra-buy-bitcoin-cash/

Roy

1637 days ago

How can I transfer bitcoin from coinbase to abra? Do I have to manually type in the address? Thanks

Hi Roy, to transfer bitcoin from Coinbase into your Abra wallet:

1. Make sure your Abra wallet currency is the currency you want it to be. If you want to hold bitcoin in your wallet, your wallet currency should be BTC. If you want to hold another currency, make sure you’ve set it to be that currency. You can find this setting in the menu under “Wallet currency”.

2. Press the “Add money” button on the home page of the Abra wallet. Select “Use bitcoin” then copy your address.

3. Paste the address into your Coinbase app or send it to yourself through a messaging app like email or Signal if you only use Coinbase on your desktop. Double-check that the address that you pasted matched the address in your Abra wallet, then send the bitcoins from Coinbase to that address.

You should receive a notification shortly after that the money has arrived in your Abra wallet. Let me know if you have any trouble with this!

Prashanth

1638 days ago

Hi . Stupid question..

I’m from india. Say I buy 0.25 bitcoins as an investment, will it go up in value over time ? Also will I be able to cash in whenever I want on my investment?
Thanks

Hi Prashanth, great question! Thanks for asking. First, if you want to hold bitcoin in your Abra wallet, make sure you have changed your wallet currency to BTC. You can do this by pressing the “Wallet currency” button in the main menu of the app. Your wallet balance and any future deposits/ received funds will then be automatically converted into bitcoin. You will then be able to cash out your wallet at any time through any of our supported methods in your country.

1644 days ago

Are there weekly or monthly limits to the amount that I can deposit from a bank?

Hi Jeff, thanks for your interest! There are limits on our bank deposit/withdrawal feature. You can find the most up to date limits here:

https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002918627-What-are-Abra-s-transaction-limits-new-

Sunil

1645 days ago

Hello! When my money is sitting in an Abra wallet in dollars, does Abra have custody of the dollars? Is it like having money sit in a bank?

Hi Sunil, thanks for your interest! Great question. The answer is “no”, Abra does not hold custody of your money. You are holding your own money on your phone using bitcoin. You can read about how this works on our FAQ: https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003984608-Can-you-share-more-about-Abra-s-Smart-Contracts-and-Hedging-

Mark

1646 days ago

so I read about ABRA on Stanisberry research letter and got the app. ! LOVE IT … I transferred $500 from my bank into the wallet. Easy! Then tonight I transferred a bitcoin from my VirWox account to my ABRA wallet. It said 2-3 days… but after reading the posts above, it appears you can only have one currency in your wallet at a time. Is that correct? so option 1 – my bitcoin will be converted to USD when it arrives in my ABRA wallet – joining my $500 I started with? Or (option 2) will there be $500 in USD and the bitcoin that I’m transferring will stay as Bitcoin – an additional B1 ($1200 value) or so in my wall as bitcoin? I got the ABRA app to buy and hold bitcoin – as I read it was much easier than the constant paypal transferring I was doing to fund a virwox account. It would be nice if we could hold more than one currency in the wallet? Is that to come in the future? I’m assuming though, that I will have to re convert back to bitcoin after my bitcoin funds come from virwox and get changed back to dollars. thanks

Hi Mark, glad to hear you are enjoying your experience so far! I can help answer your questions:

> Then tonight I transferred a bitcoin from my VirWox account to my ABRA wallet. It said 2-3 days… but after reading the posts above, it appears you can only have one currency in your wallet at a time. Is that correct? so option 1 – my bitcoin will be converted to USD when it arrives in my ABRA wallet – joining my $500 I started with? Or (option 2) will there be $500 in USD and the bitcoin that I’m transferring will stay as Bitcoin – an additional B1 ($1200 value) or so in my wall as bitcoin?

There are currently three ways to add money to your Abra wallet:

1. Abra Tellers (cash)
2. Bank transfer
3. Bitcoin

Bank transfers take about 2-3 business days to process, though some tests we’ve run recently show same-day funds in a best-case scenario.

For bitcoin deposits, you will receive a notification about a minute after the bitcoin transaction is sent (depending on the service that is being used to make the payment) and the bitcoin will be available in your wallet after one blockchain confirmation.

If your wallet currency is set to USD, then the bitcoin payment will be converted into USD upon receipt. The deposit notification will show the conversion rate used for the deposit. This information can also be found in your transaction history.

You can only hold one currency in your wallet at a time. Your request to hold multiple currencies is well-received, I will be sure to pass this along to our product team. It’s something we hear a lot and hope to support in the future. If you want to hold bitcoin in your Abra wallet, you can change your wallet currency to BTC at any time.

Warren Marks

1649 days ago

I’ve been recommended to use Abra as a digital wallet, however it doesn’t allow me to link an Australian bank account to it. Any advice would be appreciated?
Regards Warren Marks

Hi Warren, thanks for your interest! You are correct that Abra does not support linking an AU bank account today. Depending on the city you’re in, you may be able to add and withdraw money with cash via Abra Tellers – think of them like “human ATMs”. To see if there’s an Abra Teller near you, select “Use cash” on the “Add money” screen in the app and search for your city to see if there’s an Abra Teller nearby. If not, then currently the only other way to get money in and out of the wallet is using bitcoin.

Hope this helps!

DAVID WEEKS

My bank is BBVA Compass. It is not on your list of banks at this time. Will you be adding it any time in the near future?

We do not have a timeline for BBVA Compass support at this time.

Todd Rasmussen

1650 days ago

I am confused. Here is the way I see it now. First I need a bank that will trade with a broker that deals in BTC. I set up Set up the account with them so I can trade BTC with a different company, like Abra. Then I can trade. If I want cash back I have to do the reverse process. And I can only do this on a smartphone??!!!

What are you confused about? Is there a specific step in the process described in this blog post that you’re having trouble with?

1611 days ago

I tried to make a with drawl from ABRA to my bank. I have had no issues transferring to my Abra account. But when I tried to transfer money back to my bank it was rejected. I tried transferring BTC to my bank, but my phone would not let me do it. When I changed my wallet currency to USD, the transaction went through. 2 days later I got an email from ABRA stating that my transfer was rejected. If this is going to happen I will close my account. If I can’t get to my $$, it is worthless.

Hi Todd, you can create a support ticket by pressing the “Contact us” button in the main menu of the app, our customer support team will then be able to help investigate this issue to find out what went wrong.

PC

1653 days ago

I had setup my Abra account currency to be BTC and everything is fine. However, I plan to transfer, say $100, from my BofA to Abra. My question is when the transfer clears and my $100 reaches Abra, will it be automatically converted to BTC (as some exchange rate)? It would be nice if I have the option to decide that I want the $100 to stay in USD and only convert it to BTC when I feel it is a good time to convert. Basically what I am asking is that will Abra have the ability to keep user’s money in more than one currencies. I think it will be a very attractive feature to have. Thanks.

Hi PC, thanks for giving Abra a try! To answer your question: as per Step 1 in the blog post above, you should set your wallet currency to USD if you want to receive $100 in your Abra wallet. Your wallet currency will default to your local fiat currency based on the phone number you signed up with, but if you have changed your wallet currency to something other than e.g. USD then you will want to change it back so that when you transfer USD from your bank account it will arrive in your wallet as USD. Once the money is in your wallet, you can convert it to BTC using either of the two methods mentioned in Step 3 above. I find it easiest to just withdraw the USD to an external bitcoin wallet when the exchange rate is favorable, as opposed to converting my wallet currency to BTC and then having to convert it back when I want to add USD from my bank again – but it’s up to you. Hope this helps!

Todd Hoch

Can the bank account that I connect to Abra be a business bank account?

We do not currently support adding and withdrawing funds via business bank accounts.

How much can I withdraw and deposit back into my back at any one time?

Up to $500 per day.

Edit: You can find information about our current limits on our FAQ: https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002918627-What-are-Abra-s-transaction-limits-new-

CryptoDad

1502 days ago

What is the limit for bank deposits in the Philippines for daily/weekly/Monthly?
Does the limit works for one bank accts or that is the total for all?

You can find our limits here:
https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002918627-What-are-Abra-s-transaction-limits-new-

These limits are on a per-user basis, not a per-bank basis. While the limits are listed in $USD, they apply globally, generally speaking. For account-specific inquiries, please use the ‘Contact Us’ link from within the app. Thanks!

Jan B

1654 days ago

I made my first deposit. (I’m new at this BTW.) When this deposit was made, did I buy BTC then or was ABRA just holding my USD? I later changed my currency to BTC and saw that I had X amount of BTC. If I change my currency back to USD will I no longer have BTC? Or will it show what my BTC is currently worth in USD?

This is my first ever venture into cyber currency.

I see that past transactions are not affected by changing the currency.

Now, I have a question about backing up my wallet. I did one back up and got my backup phrase. Are future backups automatic or do I have to backup manually each time and do I get a new backup phrase every time? You can tell by my question that I have only done one backup.

Well, I went back to change my currency and saw that I was about to convert my BTC back into USD. So I don’t know how things work.

> I did one back up and got my backup phrase. Are future backups automatic or do I have to backup manually each time and do I get a new backup phrase every time? You can tell by my question that I have only done one backup.

You only have to save your backup phrase once by writing it down and keeping it in a safe place, such as where you store other valuable documents or personal items. After that you can use the backup phrase to recover your wallet if you have to get a new phone or reinstall the app for any reason.

Hi Jan, thank you for your interest in Abra! I’ll try to address each of your questions here:

> When this deposit was made, did I buy BTC then or was ABRA just holding my USD? I later changed my currency to BTC and saw that I had X amount of BTC.

By default, the Abra wallet will hold your balance in your local fiat currency based on the phone number you signed up with. So if you signed up with a US phone number, your wallet will default to USD. You can change your wallet currency at any time by pressing the “Wallet currency” button in the main menu of the app.

If your wallet currency is set to USD, then when you make a deposit from your bank account, the money will show up in your wallet as USD. If your wallet currency is set to BTC, then the deposit will be converted from the currency in your bank account into BTC using the exchange rate at the time the transaction clears 2-3 business days later. For simplicity we recommend making sure that your wallet currency is the same as your bank currency, and performing the conversion after the money arrives in your wallet (as described in Step 1 in this blog post).

> If I change my currency back to USD will I no longer have BTC? Or will it show what my BTC is currently worth in USD?

Whatever currency is shown on the home screen or “dashboard” of your wallet is the currency you are holding in your wallet. You can only hold one currency at a time. So if the currency shown on your dashboard is USD, then that means your wallet is denominated in USD. If the currency shown is BTC, then it means that your wallet is denominated in BTC.

francis mc alarnen

1657 days ago

i have difficulty transferring USD from my TD checking to my ABRA wallet.. However, two transactions did procsess,both on the same day. my wallet currency is set to BTC. should it be set to USD instead?

Hi Francis! Thanks for giving Abra a try. Regarding the transactions you’re having trouble with, it might be worth reaching out to support using the “Contact us” button in the main menu of the app and asking about what the issue might be. Regarding your wallet currency, it’s up to you! Just know that when the USD transfer is complete, it will be converted to bitcoin using the exchange rate at the time the transaction clears. If you set your wallet currency to USD, then you will be able to choose when to convert to bitcoin and at what price, as described in this blog post. Hope this helps!

brown

1658 days ago

wells fargo and chase bank will freeze money transfer to ABRA despite the fact that you added them to your biller. What bank is best for this exchange ? USAA OR PNC ?

Hi Brown, we have had customers add money to their Abra wallets from accounts at those banks without incident but it’s possible some branches or agents may be more “trigger happy” than others about what transfers to flag. You should be able to use any of the banks we support in the app to add money to your Abra wallet as long as you’re using your own account and pass the verification process.

Glen

1660 days ago

Wells Fargo in PA refuses to transfer money from my checking account to a digital currency exchange such as ARBA. if I do, they will freeze the transaction and may result in confiscating the money. They said that Federal Regulations will prevent banks from working with these cybercurrency exchanges.

Hi Glen, we have had customers add money to their Abra wallets from Wells Fargo accounts without incident. It’s ultimately up to the bank to set their own policy, and it’s possible some branches may have different policies than others. But that’s what I know so far about customers using Wells Fargo with Abra.

Don

Probably stupid question. Can I get app on my laptop instead of phone?

Hi Don! There is no such thing as a stupid question 🙂 Abra is only on Android and iOS right now.

rich soon

You can. But you must use android emulator. Just try NOX app

Ed Rod

1667 days ago

Hi John, I assume you make a % on fund xfrs (to another person’s account) that would be less than traditional currency exchanges. What is to stop someone in the US, for ex, giving their friend in Philippines their password? So the Philippines person just makes a withdrawal seemingly from their own account into whatever currency rather than a fund xfr to another person’s account that would entail fees. Of course, not advocating, just seems like this will happen when in person authentication is not required.

Hi Ed, two things here:

1. We don’t make any fees of transfers from one Abra account to another, or on add money/ withdraw transactions via bank accounts.

2. Each Abra wallet is unique to the phone it’s installed on. Sharing your backup phrase (the closest thing we have to a “password”) would be akin to literally giving someone your wallet and letting them add or take money from it. Additionally, only one phone number at a time can be associated with a wallet. So if you share your backup phrase with someone, then your wallet will no longer work. For these reasons, we do not recommend sharing your backup phrase.

Since we don’t charge fees to add/withdraw money via bank or on Abra <-> Abra transactions, it would not make sense to risk the security of your wallet by sharing your backup phrase with someone else.

Hope this helps clarify this for you!

JB

1670 days ago

Hi,

When can I add a Swiss bank account into my wallet? Knowing that my teller application is being process.

I only see US and Philippine banks available.

Hi JB, we do not support Swiss banks at this time but are working on expanding our banking integrations – stay tuned! In the mean time, you can fund your Abra wallet with bitcoin. Just select the “Use bitcoin” option on the “Add money” screen. Let us know if you have any other questions about this.

crypto

1673 days ago

If I do not wish to convert to BTC at the time I receive funds in my wallet, can I send the USD to a USDT account on Poloniex for example?

Will you support ETH in the future?

If I pay someone in another currency and their bank is not yet on your list, nor is there a teller near them, how do they retrieve the funds?

1672 days ago

> If I do not wish to convert to BTC at the time I receive funds in my wallet, can I send the USD to a USDT account on Poloniex for example?

You could, you can also choose to convert your wallet currency from USD to BTC to convert your whole wallet balance, or withdraw your USD to any external bitcoin address (including one at an exchange like Poloniex). This choice is up to you.

> Will you support ETH in the future?

No plans to.

> If I pay someone in another currency and their bank is not yet on your list, nor is there a teller near them, how do they retrieve the funds?

They can with their balance to an external bitcoin wallet, including one hosted on an exchange that will connect to their bank account.

1679 days ago

would be appreciated if you share some details about verification because I was instantly hit it when i tried adding funds. (pretty low amount I must add, so in the end I did not bother with it and just bought elsewhere)

Hi David, we explain the process here on our FAQ:

US: https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003321467-How-do-I-deposit-into-my-wallet-using-a-bank-US-new-

PH: https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000821548-How-do-I-deposit-into-my-wallet-using-a-bank-Philippines-new-

Billy Jones

This did not answer his question. I read this. What are the verification processing?

Everyone knows legally you must have these but essential to be transparent about them.

What question do you have that the FAQ articles did not answer?

Dayna

1681 days ago

Hello, My question is perhaps one of a bit of ignorance to how this all works, but in buying bitcoins from my bank account at a certain price as stated above (spot based on coinbase) if this if left in my Abra BTC wallet does the price then flux up and down as it does on coinbase?
If I am buying more as an investment, longer term hold will what I purchase increase in value if BTC increases?
Is there a limit of how much that can be purchased like coinbase does?
Can the BTC wallet at some future date be converted back into USA to then be put back into my bank account that is connected to my Abra?
Thank you, Dayna

> Hello, My question is perhaps one of a bit of ignorance to how this all works, but in buying bitcoins from my bank account at a certain price as stated above (spot based on coinbase) if this if left in my Abra BTC wallet does the price then flux up and down as it does on coinbase?

If your wallet currency is set to BTC, then the value of your wallet will be fixed in BTC. If your wallet currency is set to USD, then the value of your wallet will be fixed in USD.

> If I am buying more as an investment, longer term hold will what I purchase increase in value if BTC increases?

Only if your wallet currency is set to BTC. You can do this from the main menu in the app.

> Is there a limit of how much that can be purchased like coinbase does?

$500/ day.

Edit: You can check out our current limits here: https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002918627-What-are-Abra-s-transaction-limits-new-

> Can the BTC wallet at some future date be converted back into USA to then be put back into my bank account that is connected to my Abra?

Yes, you can convert your wallet currency at any time between any of the 50+ currencies we support in the app, and you can withdraw your funds to your account at any of the banks we support in the US and Philippines.

1675 days ago

Hi John, I have another question. Can I request or send payment from for example, a coinbase account to my Abra account or does this only work amoung Abra users and supporters.
Dayna

1674 days ago

Yes, you can send money to and from your Abra wallet with your Coinbase account. In the Abra wallet, on the “Add money” page, press the button for “Use bitcoin” and you can send money from your Coinbase account to the bitcoin address in your Abra wallet. And you can do the same in reverse: on the “Withdraw money” page, press the button for “Use bitcoin” and copy/paste the bitcoin address for your Coinbase wallet to send money from your Abra wallet to Coinbase. You can use these same features to add and withdraw money using any external bitcoin wallet, not just Coinbase. Hope this helps!

Kevin Paddock

1445 days ago

No this does not help, my money is frozen for some reason. I cannot withdraw with a transfer to my bank, or another wallet or an exchange. To even further my frustration, I have deposited another $1000 and it shows as not being cleared, even though it has left my bank and Abra says it should have cleared 4 days ago.

Hi Kevin, for account-specific issues, please contact our support team.

Robert Carnevale

1642 days ago

John,

I was just restricted to a $250 daily limit. When did this change?

Hi Robert, this change went live on Monday. You can find info about our current limits on our FAQ: https://abra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002918627-What-are-Abra-s-transaction-limits-new-

By any chance getting any increase on the daily/weekly/monthly limits?

Jun Rodriguez

If I fund my wallet with US $, then change the currency to BTC, will everything in the wallet change? what if I want to add more funds? Say I add another $500 to the account but my currency is now set to BTC? Will I automatically be buying BTC already? Can it be a separate wallet containing some BTC which I bought before and some USD which I just replenished my account with?

1610 days ago

If you change your wallet currency to BTC then everything is converted and any money added to the wallet will be automatically converted into BTC as well. You can only hold one currency in your wallet at a time.

Paul

1683 days ago

Suppose my wallet currency is set to CNY (Chineese yuan) and I want to buy bitcoin. I choose the option of converting my yuan denominated balance to bitcoin inside the app. But there’s no CNY/BTC pair on Coinbase. So how do we get the rate?

CNY -> USD -> BTC

Luke

1684 days ago

Is the bitcoin on withdrawal via option 2 bring purchased via local bitcoins vendors in the background? Surprised they’re on board with 1% fees, guess you’re expecting volume

No, the bitcoin is actually in your wallet, hedged to the price of e.g. USD at the time the deposit is made. Option two just transfers the bitcoin to an external wallet at the current exchange rate.

Christine

124 days ago

How do I make money through bitcoin kindly

Philip

1685 days ago

glad you guys figured out a way to buy at predictable rate.

ricardo

over spot of which price index?

John

Please see our FAQs for info on our bitcoin price feed.

then it would be a nice touch also to see the live bitcoin price ticker from Coinbase inside the app. Showing the rate in BTC to U.S. dollars as in your illustration isn’t fully informative for those who are used to follow BTC price in dollars or other base currencies like e.g. euro, yen or GBP.

this would make sense when using it as a bitcoin wallet, and reference coinbase when converting to/from bitcoin.

Good feedback, thanks! As you pointed out, we currently just show the rate when a user goes to make the conversion. This could be made visible elsewhere in the app. I will pass this feedback along to the product team.

raymann

do you have pc version of abra?

At this time there is no pc version. Abra is available on Apple or Android smartphones.

bob

1318 days ago

wish this was available for my pc

Buying bitcoin with bank account (ACH) transfers

Abra, bitcoin wallet, buy bitcoin

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