What it costs to use a card.
A fee to create a card, a fee to add money to it, and a share of what you spend outside the United States.
Five charges, and you can see each one coming.
Card creation
$3.00
Taken once, as the card is issued. The number is live straight away.
Card funding
$1.00 / 2%
$1.00 on a deposit under $100, and 2% of it from $100 up. Taken out of what you send rather than billed separately.
Cross-border payment
2.5% + $0.50
On a payment to a merchant outside the United States. A US checkout — which most subscriptions are — is not charged it.
Contactless payment
0.25%
On a tap to pay through Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Declined payment
$0.75
The first decline on a card costs nothing. The second and third cost $0.75, and the third closes the card for good.
What the prices above are worth at home.
Cards are funded in USDT and spend in dollars. This is the rate we would convert at, so you can judge a fee in the money you think in.
Ghana
GHS
₵12.21
0.42% today
Nigeria
NGN
₦1,412.64
0.13% today
Kenya
KES
KSh 133.37
0.08% today
Rwanda
RWF
FRw 1,508.06
No change today
Rates move through the day.
What happens to a deposit that arrives short.
Less than was asked for
The fee still comes out of whatever arrives — the creation fee, or the funding fee, depending on what the deposit was for — and the rest goes onto the card. Nothing is held back waiting for the difference.
Under $3.00
A deposit below $3.00 is not processed and does not reach the card.