Crypto Card Fees Top $100 on $6,000 in Modeled Spending

Fees on crypto card purchases outside a card’s default currency can total $30 to $132 on $6,000 in modeled annual spending, with the highest estimate depending on two charges applying together.

The scenario assumes $500 in purchases each month for 12 months, with listed percentage fees applied to the same $6,000 principal. It assumes eligible card balances and purchases of at least $25. The estimate excludes card issuance, subscriptions, funding or recharging, ATM withdrawals, blockchain fees, merchant surcharges and cashback, and is not a live exchange-rate quote.

RedotPay has a 1.2% fee for purchases in a currency other than the card’s currency and a 1% crypto-conversion fee. If both apply to the same purchase, the combined rate is 2.2%, or $132 across the modeled annual spending. That total is conditional on both fees applying together.

KAST Standard’s foreign-exchange (FX) fee on non-U.S.-dollar spending ranges from 0.5% to 1.75%, equal to $30 to $105 on $6,000. Non-USD transactions below $25 incur an additional 10 cents each; 50 such purchases a month would add $60 over a year. The applicable FX rate depends on the cardholder’s residence, transaction country and card program.

UPay’s Premier and Platinum cards settled in U.S. dollars have a 2% recharge fee, while its HKD-settled Precious card has a 1% recharge fee. Separately, a physical USD card has a 2% fee on non-USD transactions. Applied to the full $6,000 model, that purchase fee would amount to $120; it is separate from the recharge fees and is not a confirmed cost across UPay card types.

For ether.fi Cash purchases outside U.S. dollars and euros, the prevailing FX base rate is about 1%. The Core tier can add an additional fee of 0% to 0.5%. Settlement timing can affect the rate applied. ether.fi’s zero-markup euro feature is in beta and applies when a merchant charges in euros.

The totals vary by card, transaction size, currency and fee type. Small purchases, recharging and merchant currency conversion can change what a cardholder pays beyond the modeled percentage fees.