Yearly cost at three spending levels
| Monthly spend | Exa Card | CL Card |
|---|---|---|
| $500 | -$45.60 Standard | -$142.15 Standard |
| $2,000 | -$99.60 Standard | -$322.15 Standard |
| $5,000 | -$207.60 Standard | -$682.15 Standard |
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 | CL Card Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Top-up and conversion fees | $0 | -$528 |
| Spending fees | $0 | $0 |
| Foreign exchange markup | -$72 | $0 |
| ATM fees | -$27.60 | -$34.15 |
| Annual, monthly and subscription fees | $0 | $0 |
| Cashback | $0 | +$240 |
| Net per year | -$99.60 | -$322.15 |
Fees
Exa Card charges 0% to convert or top up and 1.5% on spending in a foreign currency. CL Card charges 2% and 0%.
The conversion fee applies to every dollar you load, so Exa Card's lower rate matters most for everyday spending in your home currency. On $1,000 of spending, the gap is $20.
ATM withdrawals: Exa Card no atm access (virtual card only); CL Card €2.50.
A virtual card costs nothing with Exa Card and nothing with CL Card. A physical card costs an undisclosed fee and an undisclosed fee. Neither card has an annual fee on its base tier.
Cashback and rewards
Exa Card cashback: None. CL Card cashback: 1% to 2%.
Exa Card tiers: Standard: 0%.
CL Card tiers: Standard: 1%; BXX rewards: 2%.
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.
CL Card: Ledger's page says "1% cashback in BTC, USDC, or USDT" (BTC or USDC in the US, BTC or USDT elsewhere), claimed from the Loyalty program page. CL's own FAQ also offers 2% if you take the reward in Baanx's BXX token. Spending funded by the Cryptodraft credit line earns nothing. No spend or reward cap is published.
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.
CL Card is offered in 37 countries, including France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, United States and Canada. Ledger says "The CL Card is currently available in the EEA, the UK, the US, Canada, Switzerland, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil." This file uses the EU fee schedule. You do not need a Ledger device to get the card.
Exa Card needs full KYC and CL 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.
CL Card does not publish fixed spending or ATM limits.
Exa Card works with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and CL Card works with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Exa Card and CL 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.
CL Card scores 64/100. Licensing: issued by a bank or e-money institution regulated in a tier-one jurisdiction. The card is issued through UAB Monavate. No incidents or enforcement actions found in the last 36 months. Only money loaded to the card as e-money is safeguarded under e-money rules. Crypto deposited to the CL platform becomes Baanx's property, and Baanx's terms warn that "in the event that any of Us becomes insolvent ... You may not be able to have the full value of Your deposits restored". Baanx describes its crypto services as "not regulated financial services". We could not find a published proof-of-reserves report. We found no official enforcement actions against the card providers. Ledger's own past security incidents are not listed, because Ledger does not provide or hold funds for the card.
Full reports: Exa Card safety check and CL 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.
Ledger CL Card (Europe) is a custodial Visa card from Baanx (CL Card), card account by UAB Monavate. It tops up with BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, LTC, XRP and SOL and its balance is held in EUR.
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.
CL Card fits if
- You spend in foreign currencies often, since its FX markup is lower.
- You want a higher cashback ceiling (up to 2%).
Read more: Exa Card fees and details · CL Card fees and details