Yearly cost at three spending levels
| Monthly spend | Uphold | Exa Card |
|---|---|---|
| $500 | ≤ -$18 Essential | -$45.60 Standard |
| $2,000 | ≤ -$72 Essential | -$99.60 Standard |
| $5,000 | ≤ -$180 Essential | -$207.60 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 | Uphold Essential | Exa Card Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Top-up and conversion fees | Not disclosed | $0 |
| Spending fees | $0 | $0 |
| Foreign exchange markup | -$72 | -$72 |
| ATM fees | Not disclosed | -$27.60 |
| Annual, monthly and subscription fees | $0 | $0 |
| Cashback | Not disclosed | $0 |
| Net per year | -$72 | -$99.60 |
Fees
Uphold charges Not disclosed to convert or top up and 1.5% on spending in a foreign currency. Exa Card charges 0% and 1.5%.
ATM withdrawals: Uphold $2.95; Exa Card no atm access (virtual card only).
A virtual card costs nothing with Uphold and nothing with Exa Card. A physical card costs $4.99 and an undisclosed fee. Neither card has an annual fee on its base tier.
Cashback and rewards
Uphold cashback: Variable, not published. Exa Card cashback: None.
Uphold tiers: Essential: rate not published; Elite ($99.99 a year): rate not published.
Exa Card tiers: Standard: 0%.
Uphold: For the first 3 months after activation, the Essential card pays 2% in XRP (up to $120) and the Elite card pays 4% on crypto and metals and 3% on fiat and stablecoins (up to $300). Uphold does not publish the rate after that period. The Elite card also removes the FX and ATM fees.
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.
Availability and KYC
Uphold is offered in one country, including United States. Available to US residents in US states and Washington D.C. Not available in Louisiana, New York or US territories.
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.
Uphold needs full KYC and Exa Card needs full KYC.
The card finder checks both cards against your country, KYC level and must-have features.
Limits, wallets and card types
Uphold does not publish fixed spending or ATM limits.
Exa Card publishes ATM withdrawals of up to $1,000 a day.
Uphold works with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and Exa Card works with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Exa Card issues a virtual card you can use straight away.
Custody and safety
Uphold scores 64/100. Licensing: holds a licence or registration outside the tier-one list (Uphold HQ Inc. is a licensed money transmitter (NMLS ID 1269875)). No incidents or enforcement actions found in the last 36 months. Uphold publishes its assets and liabilities in real time on its transparency page. Funds in the USD account are held at Cross River Bank, Member FDIC, with pass-through insurance up to $250,000 when certain conditions are met; crypto balances are not covered.
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.
Full reports: Uphold safety check and Exa Card safety check.
About each card
Uphold Debit Card is a custodial Visa card from Uphold. It tops up with USD, USDC, USDT, BTC and XRP.
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.
Which card fits you
Uphold fits if
- You live in United States, the only market it serves.
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.
Read more: Uphold fees and details · Exa Card fees and details