Exa Card vs Nexo

The cheaper card changes with your spending. The full fee, reward, availability and safety comparison is below.

Verdict

  • At $500 a month, Nexo comes out $21.60 a year ahead. At $2,000 a month, Nexo comes out $3.60 a year ahead. At $5,000 a month, Exa Card comes out $32.40 a year ahead.
  • Exa Card is a self-custody card that spends from your own wallet. Nexo is custodial.
  • On our safety check, Exa Card scores 75/100 (Good) and Nexo scores 63/100 (Good).
  • Overall, Exa Card rates 54/100 against 48/100 for Nexo, helped by its reach: it is offered in 46 countries and territories against 33 for Nexo.
  • Among the 25 countries we track, both cards are offered in 1: Argentina.

Net value per year at $2,000 a month (20% foreign spend, one $200 ATM withdrawal a month)

  • Exa Card · Standard-$99.60
  • Nexo · Debit Mode or under $5,000≤ -$96

≤ one fee is not published and counts as zero.

Crypto card comparison
FeatureExa CardNexo
Countries offered46 countries (better)33 countries
Card networkVisaMastercard
CustodySelf-custodyCustodial
KYCFullFull
Top-up assetsUSDC, ETH, WBTC, wstETH, OPUSDT, USDC, BTC, ETH
Top-up or conversion fee0%Not disclosed
FX markup1.5% (better)2%
ATM feeNo ATM access (virtual card only)2% + €1.99 after €200 free a month
Annual fee (base tier)FreeFree
Card issuanceVirtual Free · Physical Not disclosedVirtual Free · Physical Not disclosed
CashbackNone0% to 2%
Apple Pay / Google PayApple Pay, Google PayApple Pay, Google Pay
Safety score75/100 (better)63/100
Overall rating54/100 (better)48/100
Get the cardGet Exa CardGet Nexo

Yearly cost at three spending levels

Monthly spendExa CardNexo
$500-$45.60
Standard
≤ -$24
Debit Mode or under $5,000
$2,000-$99.60
Standard
≤ -$96
Debit Mode or under $5,000
$5,000-$207.60
Standard
≤ -$240
Debit Mode or under $5,000

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

LineExa Card
Standard
Nexo
Debit Mode or under $5,000
Top-up and conversion fees$0Not disclosed
Spending fees$0$0
Foreign exchange markup-$72-$96
ATM fees-$27.60$0
Annual, monthly and subscription fees$0$0
Cashback$0$0
Net per year-$99.60-$96

Fees

Exa Card charges 0% to convert or top up and 1.5% on spending in a foreign currency. Nexo charges Not disclosed and 2%.

ATM withdrawals: Exa Card no atm access (virtual card only); Nexo 2% + €1.99 after €200 free a month.

A virtual card costs nothing with Exa Card and nothing with Nexo. 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. Nexo cashback: 0% to 2%.

Exa Card tiers: Standard: 0%.

Nexo tiers: Debit Mode or under $5,000: 0%; Base: 0.5%, capped at $50 a month; Silver: 0.7%, capped at $100 a month; Gold: 1%, capped at $150 a month; Platinum: 2%, capped at $200 a month.

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.

Nexo: Cashback applies only to Credit Mode purchases (spending borrowed against your crypto), never to Debit Mode. You need a portfolio of at least $5,000, and your Loyalty tier is set by the share of NEXO Tokens in your portfolio (Silver 1%, Gold 5%, Platinum 10%). Rates shown are for NEXO Token payouts; choosing BTC pays 0.1% to 0.5%. Monthly reward caps reset on the 1st.

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.

Nexo is offered in 33 countries, including France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom and Argentina. Nexo lists the EEA, Andorra, Monaco, the UK and Argentina "and other selected jurisdictions", so the list is not complete; the app's Check eligibility screen is final. Bulgaria is excluded because Nexo says its services are unavailable there. Personal accounts only. The card can be issued in EUR, GBP or USD. The DiPocket card terms cover EEA and UK residents only; the issuer for Argentina is not published.

Exa Card needs full KYC and Nexo 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.

Nexo publishes a daily spending limit of €70,000, a monthly limit of €300,000 and ATM withdrawals of up to €2,000 a day.

Exa Card works with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and Nexo works with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Exa Card and Nexo 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.

Nexo scores 63/100. Licensing: issued by a bank or e-money institution regulated in a tier-one jurisdiction. The card is issued through DiPocket UAB. 2023-01-19: Nexo Capital Inc. agreed to pay a $22.5 million SEC penalty, plus $22.5 million to US state regulators, over its unregistered Earn Interest Product. 2026-01-14: California's DFPI fined Nexo Capital Inc. $500,000 for making loans to California residents without a lender licence and without checking their ability to repay. Card funds are not stored with DiPocket; Nexo settles each card transaction, and the card terms say DiPocket "does not issue electronic money to you". Nexo's real-time reserves attestation (Armanino from 2021, Moore Johannesburg from April 2023) no longer has a live page, and we found no dated reserves report for 2025 or 2026.

Full reports: Exa Card safety check and Nexo 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.

Nexo Card is a custodial Mastercard from Nexo Services Sp. z o.o. (Poland). It tops up with USDT, USDC, BTC and ETH 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.
  • You spend in foreign currencies often, since its FX markup is lower.
  • 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.

Nexo fits if

  • You want a higher cashback ceiling (up to 2%).

Read more: Exa Card fees and details · Nexo fees and details

Exa Card vs Nexo: questions

Which is cheaper, Exa Card or Nexo?
At $2,000 a month with 20% foreign spending and one $200 ATM withdrawal, Nexo leaves $3.60 more per year. The result can change with your spending, so the comparison above lets you enter your own amount.
Can I use Exa Card and Nexo in the same country?
Yes, in 1 of the 25 countries we track, including Argentina.
Is Exa Card or Nexo safer?
Exa Card scores higher on our safety check (75/100 against 63/100). The score looks at licensing, custody, fund segregation, proof of reserves and incident history.
Which card has better cashback, Exa Card or Nexo?
Exa Card pays none and Nexo pays 0% to 2%. Caps, tier rules and fees decide what you keep, which is why the yearly figures above include both.

Sources

  1. Exa Card (Exactly): fees · checked September 28, 2026
  2. Exa Card (Exactly): availability · checked September 28, 2026
  3. Exa Card (Exactly): cashback · checked September 28, 2026
  4. Exa Card (Exactly): safety · checked September 28, 2026
  5. Nexo Card: fees · checked September 28, 2026
  6. Nexo Card: availability · checked September 28, 2026
  7. Nexo Card: cashback · checked September 28, 2026
  8. Nexo Card: safety · checked September 28, 2026