Yearly cost at three spending levels
| Monthly spend | Exa Card | Gemini Card |
|---|---|---|
| $500 | -$45.60 Standard | ≤ -$132 Base rate |
| $2,000 | -$99.60 Standard | ≤ +$48 Base rate |
| $5,000 | -$207.60 Standard | ≤ +$408 Base rate |
Net value per year: cashback minus conversion, FX, ATM and fixed fees. US dollars, 20% foreign spending, one $200 ATM withdrawal a month. The card cost calculator runs the same comparison with your own habits.
Where the money goes at $2,000 a month
| Line | Exa Card Standard | Gemini Card Base rate |
|---|---|---|
| Top-up and conversion fees | $0 | Not disclosed |
| Spending fees | $0 | $0 |
| Foreign exchange markup | -$72 | $0 |
| ATM fees | -$27.60 | -$192 |
| Annual, monthly and subscription fees | $0 | $0 |
| Cashback | $0 | +$240 |
| Net per year | -$99.60 | +$48 |
Fees
Exa Card charges 0% to convert or top up and 1.5% on spending in a foreign currency. Gemini Card charges Not disclosed and 0%.
ATM withdrawals: Exa Card no atm access (virtual card only); Gemini Card 3% + $10.
A virtual card costs nothing with Exa Card and nothing with Gemini Card. A physical card costs an undisclosed fee and nothing. Neither card has an annual fee on its base tier.
Cashback and rewards
Exa Card cashback: None. Gemini Card cashback: 1%.
Exa Card tiers: Standard: 0%.
Gemini Card tiers: Base rate: 1%.
Exa Card: The Exa Card has no cashback program. Visa Signature benefits apply instead (purchase protection, car rental cover, Visa Airport Companion with pay-per-use lounges, concierge). Idle balances earn a variable yield in Exactly Protocol. Pay Later splits purchases into up to 8 fixed-rate installments paid in USDC, and the interest rate is set at purchase.
Gemini Card: 1% back on all other purchases. Higher rates apply by category - 4% on gas, EV charging, transit, taxis and rideshare (on up to $300 of spend a month, then 1%), 3% on dining and 2% on groceries (Costco, Sam's Club and Walmart are excluded). Rewards arrive instantly in bitcoin by default, or in one of 50+ other cryptos on Gemini. Some merchants pay 10% back through Gemini's merchant offers. The card carries variable APRs - purchases 16.74% to 34.74%, cash advances 29.74%, penalty APR 33.74%, based on a 7.00% prime rate on 25 September 2026.
Availability and KYC
Exa Card is offered in 46 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, United Arab Emirates and United States. US residents only in 31 listed states (not, for example, Georgia, Ohio, Washington or Oregon). No EU, EEA or UK countries are eligible. Nigeria is left out because the eligibility page says it "requires conditional approval" while the prohibited-countries list (15 January 2026) bans it. Exa's own help center also claims the card is "available in 180+ countries", which the published list does not support. In the US the card is also offered through Uphold.
Gemini Card is offered in one country, including United States. Gemini says residents of all 50 US states can apply. You must live in the US when you apply and for as long as the account stays open. Credit approval and a hard credit inquiry are required.
Exa Card needs full KYC and Gemini Card needs full KYC.
The card finder checks both cards against your country, KYC level and must-have features.
Limits, wallets and card types
Exa Card publishes ATM withdrawals of up to $1,000 a day.
Gemini Card does not publish fixed spending or ATM limits.
Exa Card works with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and Gemini Card works with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Exa Card and Gemini Card issue a virtual card you can use straight away.
Custody and safety
Exa Card scores 75/100. Licensing: holds a licence or registration outside the tier-one list (Card issued by Nimbus LLC dba Third National, licensed as a Money Transmitter by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico (licence TM-0207, NMLS 2612780). Exa Labs S.A.S. is the program manager and says it "does not issue or manage payment instruments"; its help center gives Rain's legal address as the card's billing address.). The card is issued through Nimbus LLC dba Third National. 2023-08-18: Exactly Protocol, which runs the card's credit and yield, was exploited through its DebtManager contract on Optimism. 117 accounts lost a combined $7,612,038 and the protocol was paused. Exa Labs S.A.S. is a Uruguayan company. The card is legally a credit card with no set credit line, and the issuer's terms say it has no relationship with Exactly Protocol. Your wallet is a passkey-secured smart contract account on OP Mainnet with no seed phrase. In Pay Later mode each purchase is a loan against your deposited crypto, which can be liquidated if its value falls. The 2023 exploit hit the protocol's leverage feature, not the card, which launched later. No regulator warning or enforcement action against Exa Labs or Exactly Protocol was found.
Gemini Card scores 64/100. Licensing: issued by a bank or e-money institution regulated in a tier-one jurisdiction. The card is issued through WebBank. 2024-02-28: NYDFS fined Gemini Trust Company $37 million over the Gemini Earn program and unsafe practices. Gemini also committed $40 million toward Earn customers' recovery in the Genesis bankruptcy. 2024-06-14: The New York Attorney General settled with Gemini over Gemini Earn. Gemini returned about $50 million in digital assets to more than 230,000 Earn investors. 2025-01-13: A federal court entered a CFTC consent order against Gemini Trust over misleading 2017 statements to the CFTC about a bitcoin futures contract. Gemini paid a $5 million civil penalty. 2026-01-23: The SEC dismissed with prejudice its January 2023 case against Gemini over Gemini Earn. It cited the 100% in-kind return of Earn investors' crypto. The card is issued by WebBank and serviced by Gemini Constellation, LLC. Rewards sit in a custodial Gemini account held by Gemini Trust Company (New York and Idaho customers) or Gemini Moonbase, LLC, which is licensed as a money transmitter and registered with FinCEN as a money services business. No proof-of-reserves report was found. In 2026 Gemini closed its UK, EEA and Australian accounts; the US card is not affected.
Full reports: Exa Card safety check and Gemini Card safety check.
About each card
Exa Card (Exactly) is a self-custody Visa card from Exa Labs S.A.S. (Exa Card program). It tops up with USDC, ETH, WBTC, wstETH and OP.
Gemini Credit Card is a custodial Mastercard from Gemini.
Which card fits you
Exa Card fits if
- You want to keep crypto in your own wallet until each payment.
- Most of your spending is in your home currency, where its lower conversion fee counts most.
- You weigh licensing and fund segregation heavily, since it scores higher on our safety check.
Gemini Card fits if
- You spend in foreign currencies often, since its FX markup is lower.
- You live in United States, the only market it serves.
- You want a higher cashback ceiling (up to 1%).
Read more: Exa Card fees and details · Gemini Card fees and details