A free virtual Mastercard that spends your crypto, not your bank balance
Available in US
If you have ever had a bank account closed, a payment declined at the till, or a card application refused, you are exactly the reader I am writing this for. The SwissBorg Card is a virtual Mastercard that spends directly from a crypto balance you hold inside the SwissBorg app. There is no issuance fee, no monthly fee, and no separate top-up. What you accept in exchange is a fairly specific set of trade-offs: one conversion fee on every purchase, no cash withdrawals, no physical card yet, and an eligibility list that is regional rather than global.
The conditions described here are current as of October 28, 2026.
Verdict: 6.2 out of 10
My score is 6.2 / 10. It is not a bad card. It is a well-built, genuinely free piece of payment plumbing with a narrow, opinionated design — and whether that design fits you depends almost entirely on where you live and on whether you are already holding crypto.
| Criterion | Mark | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Who can get it | 5 / 10 | Residents of the EEA (30 countries), Switzerland and the United Kingdom — one large region, but nothing beyond it |
| Cost | 9 / 10 | Issuance and servicing are free, 0.99% crypto conversion on every purchase, no separate FX fee from SwissBorg; no ATM access |
| Top-up options | 6 / 10 | Spends straight from the app’s crypto balance: BTC, ETH, SOL, BORG, USDC, USDG, EUROP, TGBP; USDT and Tron are not named, and fiat balances do not work on the card |
| Reliability and complaints | 5 / 10 | Issuer UAB Monavate is supervised by the Bank of Lithuania but was fined €270,000 on 2025-11-25; Trustpilot 3.1, with complaints about frozen accounts and slow support |
| Everyday use | 5 / 10 | Virtual card instantly, Apple Pay and Google Pay supported, but plastic is only planned and ATMs are unavailable |
The card suits people in the EU, Switzerland or the UK who want a virtual payment card for online spending and who already hold crypto. It does not suit someone who needs a physical card in a wallet, someone who needs cash from a machine, someone who wants to pay from a salary or a fiat balance, or anyone living outside the eligible region. It also does not suit someone who treats frozen accounts as a dealbreaker — I will get to that, and it is the part that worries me most.
The single most important thing to understand before anything else: this card spends crypto. Not your bank balance. More on that below.
Who gets the card
Yes, if you reside in the right place and can clear identity checks.
Eligibility is by residence, not citizenship. The card is for residents of the EEA (30 countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The card’s own wording is simply “Reside in one of the following countries”, which tells you plainly that a citizenship in a different country is not the test.
The card cannot be used in Russia or Belarus. Both sit on the restricted countries list, which reads, in part: “Afghanistan, Belarus, … Russia, …”.
If you are outside that list, the answer is no, and no amount of persistence changes it. If you are inside it but hold a residence permit rather than citizenship, the residence is what counts.
One thing worth checking early, before you download anything: your card’s base currency is fixed at issuance. It is EUR for EEA residents, CHF for Switzerland residents, and GBP for UK residents, and it cannot be changed afterwards. If you move, you keep the currency you started with.
How to get it
The process is short, and the whole thing runs inside one app.
- Download the SwissBorg app for iOS (iPhone) or Android.
- Open a personal account and complete KYC Level 2.
- On the Portfolio screen, tap Card and accept the terms.
- Choose a primary cryptocurrency — the virtual card is ready instantly.
KYC Level 2 means a verified photo ID and a verified proof of address, and you must be at least 18. The card cannot be activated below that.
The card you get is virtual, delivered instantly in the app on activation, with no shipping. It is a Mastercard debit card. A physical card is planned for a later phase: the card says that, depending on community demand, physical cards may become available with an additional issuance and shipping fee. Delivery time, cost and replacement cost for physical cards are not stated anywhere public, so treat those as unknowns rather than as features on offer.
Two practical warnings before you commit. First, the virtual card lives in your phone’s wallet, so a lost or wiped handset is a bigger problem than with a physical card — you can freeze the card in the app, but you should think about where your second device is. Second, the app’s own store ratings are not uniform: Google Play (en_GB) shows 4.6 across roughly 15.2K reviews, the App Store (Ireland) shows 4.4 across 88 ratings, while the SwissBorg website footer shows Google Play 4.2 and App Store 4.6. Read as one signal among several rather than a verdict.
If you want to understand the account tiers behind the card: the platform-wide levels are Level 1 with a EUR 5,000 cumulative deposit/withdrawal limit, Level 2 with EUR 50,000 in and EUR 1,000,000 out, and Level 3 unlimited. The card requires Level 2. Processing times and the stated reasons for rejection are not stated. Unofficial figures circulating on third-party review sites (per Card Pilled, last verified 2026-10-16) put Level 1 at EUR 5,000 in and out — those are not confirmed by the card, and I would treat them as indicative only.
Fees: what it really costs
Free to open, free to keep, and 0.99% on every purchase. That headline is accurate, and it is the strongest thing about this card.
| Fee or limit | What it is |
|---|---|
| Issuance | No fee |
| Monthly or annual fee | None for the virtual card |
| Crypto-to-fiat conversion | 0.99% exchange fee on each card transaction, converted in real time via SwissBorg Meta-Exchange; a real-time market-liquidity adjustment may also apply |
| FX fee from SwissBorg | None; transactions in a non-base currency use the Mastercard exchange rate |
| ATM withdrawal | Not initially available; “This feature might be considered in a future iteration.” ATM balance checks also not currently available |
| Daily, monthly and annual spending limits | Exists, plus per-transaction and per-day/month transaction-count limits; exact figures are not stated publicly and are “subject to regulatory requirements and risk assessments and may be adjusted at any time” |
Now let me walk you through three ordinary payments so the fee lands in context.
A €40 grocery shop in Berlin, card base currency EUR. The 0.99% conversion fee applies to the crypto you spend. That is the whole SwissBorg cost. No FX fee, no monthly fee, no per-item fee.
A £30 train ticket booked from a London account, card base currency GBP. No FX fee from SwissBorg — but the purchase is not in your base currency if your base currency is EUR or CHF, so the Mastercard exchange rate applies. You still pay the 0.99% conversion on the crypto side. In practice you wear two costs: the conversion fee, and whatever the Mastercard rate does to a non-base currency purchase.
A €25 subscription paid in a currency that is neither EUR, CHF nor GBP. Same structure, wider spread. This is where a spending card’s foreign-exchange weakness lives, and it is the reason to think about the card’s base currency before you use it heavily abroad.
Two everyday costs that are easy to miss. Cashback, when it comes, is paid in BORG tokens as a percentage of the exchange fee, and it depends on Loyalty Rank — Standard 5%, Bronze 15%, Silver 30%, Gold 50%, Platinum 65%, Diamond 80%, Elite 90%. Seven ranks exist, based on BORG held: Standard (0 BORG), Bronze (1,000), Silver (3,000), Gold (10,000), Platinum (30,000), Diamond (60,000), Elite (100,000). Those BORG rewards are locked for a period under the “Paid to Trade” program, and cashback is not guaranteed — SwissBorg reserves the right to modify, suspend or discontinue it at any time. Treat the cashback as a small bonus, not as a reason to choose this card.
The other is refunds. Refunds from purchases are credited to your fiat account in the card’s base currency, and the original crypto-to-fiat conversion fees are not refunded. So if a merchant returns your money, the conversion fee you paid on the way out is gone.
Top up: there is no top-up, and that is the design
The honest answer to “how do I top up the SwissBorg card” is: you do not. The card spends directly from crypto balances in the app.
Supported cryptocurrencies are BTC, ETH, SOL, BORG, USDC, USDG, EUROP and TGBP. You pick one primary cryptocurrency and optional backup currencies, and the system dynamically picks a backup if the primary balance is insufficient. Fiat balances in the app cannot be used for card payments — this is the single most misunderstood feature of the card, and if you are coming from a crypto exchange account with a euro balance sitting in it, that balance is useless here for spending.
The funding routes into the wider app work like this:
| Route | Cost |
|---|---|
| Crypto deposit | Free; you pay the sending platform’s or network’s gas fees |
| Bank transfer | Free; your sending bank may charge you |
| Card / Apple Pay / Google Pay deposit | Standard countries (most of the EU) 2.25%–1.5% by rank; International (for example UK, Switzerland) 4.5%–3.75% by rank; minimum deposit €10; minimum fee €5 (Standard, Bronze) or €3 (Silver–Elite) |
Getting money back out is where the fees bite hardest for regular users. Fiat withdrawal from the SwissBorg app costs 0.10% execution fee with a minimum and maximum per currency — EUR min 1.50, max 100; CHF min 5, max 110; GBP min 1.50, max 85. Crypto withdrawal is 0.10% execution fee, with minimums and maximums per asset and network, plus real-time network gas fees.
Two closing-balance details that are worth reading rather than skimming. On account closure, any funds held on the card are redeemable for up to 6 years; after 12 months from the end of the agreement a monthly maintenance fee is deducted, and if the agreement is ended within 6 months a closure fee may apply. Those are the numbers to look at if you are considering whether keeping a balance parked on the card is worth anything.
Paying with it every day
Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported, and Apple Pay was initially available in Switzerland and France, requiring the latest app version and KYC Level 2. Curve is supported too. If your day is spent paying by phone, the virtual card handles that fine — the physical card is the gap, and it is a real one.
Here is what a normal day looks like:
- Paying online: 3-D Secure with in-app biometric approval. The issuer assesses the risk and either lets it through or challenges you.
- Paying in a shop: the same Mastercard network as any other card, minus the plastic in your wallet.
- Paying in a currency other than your base: Mastercard’s exchange rate applies, on top of the 0.99% conversion.
Blocked merchant categories are a real limit on how the card can be used. Prohibited: gambling and betting, adult content and services, cryptocurrency purchases, financial services like money transfers, illegal goods (drugs, weapons), cash advances, and certain government services. The gambling block in particular — merchant category 7995, the four-digit code that classifies casinos, betting and lotteries — is where crypto card users hit surprises most often.
Security features worth knowing: 3-D Secure on online transactions with biometric approval, instant freeze and unfreeze in the app, and a tokenised number in your mobile wallet. Apple Pay replaces the card number with a device-specific number stored in the Secure Element, never on Apple servers, and each payment uses a one-time dynamic security code. The issuer can restrict that tokenised number on magnetic-stripe, phone or website use.
Disputes have a clock on them. You must contact SwissBorg through the app (Profile > Support) or at [email protected] within 8 weeks of the transaction date. SwissBorg then assists with resolving the dispute or forwards it to the card network. Where the merchant did not specify an exact amount and it exceeded reasonable expectations, the refund is due within 10 business days of receiving the claim or further information. On unauthorised transactions, liability is limited to EUR 50 if the card is lost, stolen or misappropriated — except in cases of fraud or gross negligence — and you must report without undue delay and no later than 13 months. Note one gap: conversion fees are not refunded on reversals.
Support is reachable through in-app chat, email at [email protected], and a help centre. The card issuer Monavate is also reachable by phone (+37069870638) and email at [email protected]. Communication is in English, per section 11.3 of the card terms: “We will communicate with you in English.”
What can go wrong
This is the section I would read twice if I were you.
The card is issued by UAB Monavate, incorporated in Lithuania (entity code 305628001, Konstitucijos pr. 21a, LT-08130 Vilnius), authorised by the Bank of Lithuania (authorisation code LB002139901097) to issue electronic money and provide payment services. On 2025-11-25 the Bank of Lithuania fined Monavate €270,000 with a warning, for breaches related to AML, management and reporting obligations. That is a real supervisory action against the entity that issues your card.
User-side, the recurring complaints are consistent and worth weighing:
- Account freezes and restrictions — users report accounts blocked after deposits without clear explanation or warning, sometimes taking weeks to resolve (throughout 2025–2026, via Trustpilot and Google Play).
- Slow or unresponsive support — tickets unanswered for days or weeks, with “radio silence” after an initial response (throughout 2025–2026, via Trustpilot and Google Play).
- Deposit cooldown periods — card, Apple Pay or Google Pay deposits triggering mandatory security holding periods during which funds are locked, with users frustrated at being unable to access or withdraw them (throughout 2025–2026, via Trustpilot).
Trustpilot sits at a TrustScore of 3.1 out of 5 across approximately 1,900 reviews (per NeoBase aggregation, read 2026-09-15). If your priority is a card that never holds your money for reasons you cannot see, this is the part that should decide it for you.
Two structural risks sit underneath. First, this is a custodial setup: funds are held in the SwissBorg wallet, so the provider holds the credentials and you trust them completely. Cryptographic transfers are typically irreversible, and a stolen private key has no built-in recovery — the network cannot freeze or return funds. Custodial platforms have a genuine history of failure: Mt. Gox (about US$350 million reported stolen, 2011–2014), Coincheck (about US$400 million, 2018), Ronin Network (US$625 million, 2022).
Second, money held on the card is not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Monavate follows the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for safeguarding. Electronic money is not a bank deposit; it sits outside deposit guarantee. If you keep meaningful balances on the card, understand that difference before you do.
Behind the crypto sits a two-licence structure worth understanding. The app is owned by SBorg SA (Rue du Grand-Chêne 8, 1003 Lausanne, Switzerland), and BlockNodes SAS (29 rue Blanche, 75009 Paris, France) holds MiCA authorisation number A2026-011 from France’s AMF. A card is a payment service, regulated separately under e-money and payment-services law; MiCA covers the crypto side — custody, exchange, transfer. A crypto card therefore leans on two licences, and it is the payment-side one that the Bank of Lithuania action touched.
The chronology is also instructive about how new this is. The “Paid to Trade” Loyalty Ranks and cashback programme launched on 2025-09-23; the Monavate fine came on 2025-11-25; a Card Design Contest followed on 2025-12-03; the Mastercard partnership was announced on 2026-02-18; the virtual card launched on 2026-02-25 in a phased rollout to the EEA (29 countries) and Switzerland; MiCA authorisation A2026-011 came in around 2026-03; Card Rulebook v0.1 was published on 2026-07-22; and the United Kingdom was added on 2026-08-27. A product that recent, with a v0.1 rulebook, is going to change.
One category note that applies broadly and is worth internalising: a declined authorisation may leave a hold on your funds that can remain for several days, typically up to 7. Combine that with reported cooldown periods after card deposits, and a declined payment can cost you access to money twice over.
What to take instead
None of these is a drop-in replacement — the comparison is there so you can see which trade-off you would rather make.
| Alternative | Score | Who can get it | Card | Costs | Funding | Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whop Cards | 5.2 / 10 | 31 US states for consumers; 41 for businesses; citizenship/residence basis not stated | Visa; virtual/physical and currency not stated | Page says “No extra fees”; no amounts listed | Spends from a Whop balance; pending balance usable on arrival, standard withdrawals use settled funds; stablecoin-collateral-backed from a linked wallet; coins/networks not stated | 5% cashback at select merchants, currently Uber, more planned |
| Stella | 6.5 / 10 | Countries not stated; terms bar users under economic sanctions programmes and route US and European users through affiliates | Virtual and physical; VISA, “over 40 million VISA merchants globally” | Not stated; “described under this User Agreement and/or on the App” | Deposit crypto into the account, which automatically tops up the card (in-app wallet, custodial) | No cashback stated on the card page; an Earn product is separate yield |
| UniFi Card | 4.7 / 10 | Not confirmed from official pages; app routes to Philippines (PHP), Mexico (MXN), eurozone (EUR), and release notes mention Colombia, Brazil (PIX) and UK (GBP) | “Prepaid Debit Visa Card” issued by Lead Bank; Apple Pay; USD | Not stated; “Fees may apply. See UniFi website for more details.” | Receive via ACH, wire, SEPA (IBAN) or SPEI (CLABE); get paid to a USDC wallet; further coins/networks not stated | Listing claims “3% rewards on balances”; card cashback not stated |
Whop is the geographic opposite — US-focused rather than Europe-focused — and its fee details are thin enough that you would be asking support questions. Stella is the closest structural match to SwissBorg (custodial, crypto in, card out, physical available) but publishes too little about costs for me to rate it confidently. UniFi scores lowest here because its eligibility and fee information are the least confirmed of the three.
If your problem is that a bank refused you a card, note that all of these are e-money or prepaid products with the same underlying characteristic: they are not bank deposits, and several carry the same freeze risk in different clothing.
Who I would recommend it to
I would recommend this card to you if all of the following are true.
You live in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK. You already hold crypto, or you are comfortable buying some, because the card spends nothing else. You want a virtual card for online and mobile payments and can live without a physical card for now. You do not need cash from ATMs. You accept a 0.99% conversion on each purchase and a card whose limits the provider can change at any time without publishing the figures. And — this is the one people skip — you can tolerate a frozen account and a slow support response without it being a crisis.
I would point you elsewhere if you need a physical card now, if you need cash, if you want to spend a fiat balance or a salary, if you are outside the eligible region, or if the possibility of an unexplained freeze would leave you stuck. In that last case, look at a regulated bank card or a stored-value card from a provider in your own country, and accept that you will pay more for that predictability.
My honest summary: the cost side is genuinely excellent — free card, free servicing, no FX fee from SwissBorg — and that is why this card scores 9/10 on cost. Everything holding it back is either narrowness (one region, crypto only, no ATM, no plastic) or trust (a fined issuer, a 3.1 Trustpilot, recurring freeze complaints). If the narrowness suits your life, the card is good value. If you need it to be flexible or dependable in a crisis, it is the wrong tool.
Frequently asked questions
What is the SwissBorg card?
The SwissBorg Card is a virtual Mastercard debit card that spends directly from crypto balances held in the SwissBorg app. You pick a primary cryptocurrency, the app converts it at the moment of payment, and the card is issued instantly in the app. There is no physical card yet, no ATM access, and no separate top-up step.
How does the SwissBorg card work?
You download the app, complete KYC Level 2 with a verified photo ID and verified proof of address, tap Card on the Portfolio screen, accept the terms and choose a primary cryptocurrency. From then on, each purchase converts crypto to fiat in real time via SwissBorg Meta-Exchange at a 0.99% exchange fee, with a possible market-liquidity adjustment on top.
Is SwissBorg a bank?
No. The app is owned by SBorg SA in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the card itself is issued by UAB Monavate, an electronic money institution authorised by the Bank of Lithuania. Card funds are safeguarded under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 and are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Who can get the SwissBorg card?
Residents of the EEA (30 countries), Switzerland and the United Kingdom, aged 18 or over, who clear KYC Level 2. Eligibility is decided by residence, not citizenship. The card cannot be used in Russia or Belarus, which are both on the restricted countries list.
How much does the SwissBorg card cost?
There is no issuance fee and no monthly or annual fee for the virtual card. The running cost is a 0.99% crypto-to-fiat conversion fee on every card transaction, plus a possible real-time market-liquidity adjustment. SwissBorg charges no additional FX fee; non-base-currency transactions use the Mastercard exchange rate. Cashback is paid in BORG and is not guaranteed.
Can I top up the card with fiat?
No — fiat balances in the app cannot be used for card payments. The card spends only crypto balances: BTC, ETH, SOL, BORG, USDC, USDG, EUROP and TGBP. You can deposit fiat into the wider app by bank transfer for free, but that balance stays separate from card spending.
Is the SwissBorg card safe?
It uses 3-D Secure with biometric approval for online payments, instant freeze in the app, and tokenised numbers in Apple Pay and Google Pay. But the funds are custodial, crypto transfers are largely irreversible, and money on the card is not covered by deposit guarantee. Reports of account freezes and slow support recur across 2025–2026.
Can I use the SwissBorg card in my country?
If you are in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK, yes. Elsewhere the card is not offered at all, and it cannot be used in Russia or Belarus even if you were eligible. Availability was extended to the United Kingdom on 2026-08-27, after a phased rollout to the EEA and Switzerland from 2026-02-25.
Can I get cash from an ATM with a SwissBorg card?
Not at the moment. Cash withdrawals at ATMs are not initially available and ATM balance checks are not currently available either. The card’s own wording is that this feature “might be considered in a future iteration”, which is not a commitment.
Is the SwissBorg card worth it?
If you already hold crypto and want a free virtual card for online spending in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK, yes. If you need physical plastic, cash, fiat spending or dependable access to your money when something goes wrong, no — the 0.99% conversion fee is the small part of that decision. Judge it on the freeze and support complaints, not just the free monthly fee.
Money-app cards – cryptocardselect
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