What each fee costs
| Fee | Median | Charge nothing | Publish the figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual feeCharged once a year for holding the card. Often replaced by a monthly subscription, which is why «no annual fee» alone says little. | $0 | 44 | 46 / 63 |
| Monthly feeA subscription that buys a higher cashback tier. The formula counts it as twelve monthly charges a year. | $0 | 41 | 42 / 63 |
| Card issuanceOne-off, for making the card. Metal cards are where this bites. | $0 | 36 | 42 / 63 |
| Foreign transaction (FX)Taken when you spend in a currency the card does not hold. The single biggest cost for most people, and the one most often buried in a footnote. | 1.0% | 19 | 39 / 63 |
| ATM withdrawalCash withdrawal, usually a percentage with a free allowance first. Shown here only where the issuer publishes it. | 2.0% | 9 | 28 / 63 |
| Top-upCharged when you load the card. Rare on exchange cards, common on stablecoin-native ones. | 1.0% | 1 | 9 / 63 |
The fee that is not a fee
A conversion spread is taken inside the exchange rate, so it never appears on a fee schedule. 23 cards in the dataset disclose one. Where a stablecoin card does not, the formula assumes 0.5% rather than zero, and says so on the card page.
Three states, not two
«Not disclosed» is not «free». A figure the issuer never published is shown as «—», and the formula charges the assumed 1.0% for an undisclosed FX fee instead of pretending it is zero. Every zero on this site carries a quote from the issuer saying so.
Cards that charge no fixed fee
32 cards charge neither an annual nor an issuance fee. That does not make them free: check the FX line first.
Where the fees are, per card
- 32 crypto cards with no fee — annual fee = $0 and issuance = $0
- 19 crypto cards with no foreign transaction fee — FX fee = 0 %
- 16 crypto cards with free ATM withdrawals — ATM fee = $0, or a free allowance is published
- Buying crypto with a bank card: what 17 exchanges charge — What each exchange charges to buy crypto with a Visa or Mastercard, quoted from its own fee page with a date. 17 card issuers compared, 10 of them publish the figure.
- Methodology — what it is the formula counts, and the constants it assumes
Built from the dataset on 6 Sep 2026. It changes when the figures change.Back to top ↑