Yearly cost at three spending levels
| Monthly spend | Exa Card | Tangem Pay |
|---|---|---|
| $500 | -$45.60 Standard | -$54 Basic (free) |
| $2,000 | -$99.60 Standard | +$72 Basic (free) |
| $5,000 | -$207.60 Standard | +$324 Basic (free) |
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 | Tangem Pay Basic (free) |
|---|---|---|
| Top-up and conversion fees | $0 | $0 |
| Spending fees | $0 | $0 |
| Foreign exchange markup | -$72 | -$72 |
| ATM fees | -$27.60 | -$96 |
| Annual, monthly and subscription fees | $0 | $0 |
| Cashback | $0 | +$240 |
| Net per year | -$99.60 | +$72 |
Fees
Exa Card charges 0% to convert or top up and 1.5% on spending in a foreign currency. Tangem Pay charges 0% and 1.5%.
ATM withdrawals: Exa Card no atm access (virtual card only); Tangem Pay 4%.
A virtual card costs nothing with Exa Card and nothing with Tangem Pay. 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. Tangem Pay cashback: 1% to 2%.
Exa Card tiers: Standard: 0%.
Tangem Pay tiers: Basic (free): 1% on the first $10,000 a month, capped at $100 a month; Plus ($29.99 a month): 2% on the first $15,000 a month, capped at $300 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.
Tangem Pay: Paid in USDC at the end of each billing cycle. Only purchases of $30 or more earn cashback, and in-store purchases at EU and UK merchants are excluded. The Plus plan fee is waived with $4,500 of monthly spending. A $999-a-year Prestige plan with 4% cashback is listed as coming soon.
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.
Tangem Pay does not publish a country list. Tangem says the card is available in the US (not every state) and in select countries across Latin America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. It does not publish a country list; eligibility is checked in the app during onboarding.
Exa Card needs full KYC and Tangem Pay 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.
Tangem Pay publishes a daily spending limit of $10,000 and ATM withdrawals of up to $750 a day.
Exa Card works with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and Tangem Pay works with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Exa Card and Tangem Pay 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.
Tangem Pay scores 80/100. 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). Tangem's own pages name Rain, a Visa Principal Member, as the issuer; Third National's site runs on Rain's legal pages.). The card is issued through Nimbus LLC dba Third National. No incidents or enforcement actions found in the last 36 months. Tangem Pay is run by Paera LLC, not Tangem AG. The card is legally a collateralised charge card. Your USDC or USDT sits in a smart contract you control, but Paera can liquidate it if a balance goes unpaid. The terms list a late fee of up to $40 and a liquidation penalty of up to $35. They also ask for 3 business days' notice before you withdraw collateral, while the app FAQ says you can withdraw at any time. The account is tied to a single Tangem Wallet, and losing that wallet means losing access to the card balance.
Full reports: Exa Card safety check and Tangem Pay 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.
Tangem Pay is a self-custody Visa card from Paera LLC (Tangem Pay program). It tops up with USDC and USDT.
Which card fits you
Exa Card fits if
- Its fees and availability match your situation better on the table above.
Tangem Pay fits if
- You want a higher cashback ceiling (up to 2%).
- You weigh licensing and fund segregation heavily, since it scores higher on our safety check.
Read more: Exa Card fees and details · Tangem Pay fees and details