SPay review: points and tiers, but a half-finished card

Updated October 2026

Licensed

Available in US

Fast payouts

18+ Only

SPay is a crypto-linked payment card: you load it from a crypto balance, and it behaves like an ordinary Visa you can spend in shops or online. On paper it is ambitious — three tiers, points on purchases, Apple Pay, and a points system that gives some cash back. In practice it is still very much a work in progress: the virtual card is the only piece that exists today, the physical card is marked “Coming soon,” Google Pay is described two different ways by the same company, and several fees are simply not listed. I gave it 5.5 out of 10. Read on if you are weighing a crypto card against a normal bank card you cannot easily get.

The conditions described here are current as of October 28, 2026.

Verdict: what 5.5 out of 10 actually means

Five and a half is a “worth a try if you have no better option,” not a recommendation. The score is not a rounding of enthusiasm or of warning; it is the balance of what the card genuinely does well against what it has not finished. Let me show you the working, criterion by criterion, so you can disagree with any single line without losing the whole picture.

So who is this for? In short: a non-U.S. user who wants a tiered virtual Visa with earning points, and who cannot comfortably open an ordinary bank card. That is a real audience, and SPay serves it about as well as a first-generation product can. Who is it not for? If you need a physical card in your wallet next week, if you rely on Google Pay, if you withdraw cash regularly, or if you want published, predictable fees on foreign purchases — this is not that card. The 3 % foreign-exchange and 3 % cross-border fees are the kind of number you only accept if you have no alternative.

Will they give you the card?

There is no country list on the card’s own page. For “current country coverage” it points you to its Contact page — meaning eligibility is decided case by case, not advertised. That is the first thing to weigh: if your country is not obviously supported, you are relying on the support team saying yes.

The card’s terms set two hard lines. You must not be blocked or sanctioned by the U.S. (under OFAC rules), and you must attest that you are not a U.S. citizen — the card is intended for people outside the U.S. These are legal and compliance requirements, not preferences, and they are not something to work around. Whether the rules turn on citizenship or merely residence is not stated on the public pages, so if you hold a passport or a birth certificate from the U.S. but live elsewhere, the safe reading is that the card is not for you.

How to get it

Signing up starts with verification during onboarding. Which documents are required, whether proof of address is needed, and what age threshold applies are all not stated on the card’s public pages, so you will not find a checklist before you begin. What is stated: unlocking the app uses Face ID or a 6-digit passcode.

The card itself is virtual. You create a Visa card number inside the app, and it spends in U.S. dollars. It is issued by Third National under a licence from Visa. A physical card — the teal plastic one, meant for tap-to-pay and ATM use — is listed at $99 one-time and marked “Coming soon,” to be delivered to your address and activated on arrival. Which countries it ships to, and in what time, are not stated.

What it really costs: Fees and everyday payments

The cost picture is the weakest part of this card, and it starts with a one-time fee per plan: Platinum $9.99, Signature $19.99, Infinite $49.99, plus $99 one-time for the physical card when it arrives. No monthly fee is stated.

Here is the full set of costs and limits the card actually publishes:

Now let me walk three ordinary payments through this, because that is where these percentages decide whether the card is worth using.

Paying $30 of groceries in a dollar shop. You have USDC on the balance and load the card from it. Because the card spends in U.S. dollars and the merchant prices in dollars, no foreign-exchange fee applies and no cross-border fee applies. The crypto conversion or deposit fee is not listed, so you cannot be certain what this costs — but on a plain in-country purchase this is the cheapest way to use the card.

Paying €25 for something online in Europe. This is a non-USD transaction, so the foreign-exchange fee of up to 3 % can apply. On €25 that is up to about €0.75 on top of your goods. Add the cross-border fee of up to 3 % if the payment is treated as crossing a border, and the same purchase could cost closer to €27. This is where the card gets expensive, and it is exactly the situation many users are in.

Buying something priced in dirhams while the card spends in dollars. The card’s terms say the Platinum plan spends in U.S. dollars and the app can show balances in dirhams, but multi-currency balances are not stated. In practice a non-dollar purchase routes through the same up-to-3 % FX fee.

The tier differences are not only about the fee you pay up front — they are about what you get. Platinum includes purchase protection and extended warranty up to $10,000, price protection up to $2,000, worldwide auto rental insurance and 24/7 support. Signature adds concierge, Luxury Hotel Collection, airport lounge access and higher limits. Infinite adds travel accident insurance up to $1,500,000, baggage cover, priority concierge, purchase protection at $20k and warranty at $25k. Those perks are real, but they matter most if you actually travel — and right now the physical card and ATM that a traveller would rely on are “Coming soon.”

How to Top up the card

Topping up is the part the card does best, and the reason I scored it 8 out of 10. You deposit USDT (on Tron TRC-20 or Ethereum ERC-20), USDC (on Ethereum ERC-20), or native ETH and TRX into the SPay wallet. From there you move funds onto the card from your USDC balance, in amounts from $10 to $500, and the credit lands in minutes. Quick amounts from $10 to $500 are built into the app.

A few things are not stated, and they matter. A deposit fee is not listed, and it is not stated who pays the network fee for the transfer. There is also no mention of a fiat top-up — everything described runs through crypto, so if you were hoping to load the card from a bank account, that route is not documented.

One more money-out route exists alongside top-ups: you can withdraw as USDC on the Base network to any self-custody wallet. Two cautions. Funds sent on the wrong network cannot be recovered, and the withdrawal fee is not listed. So the on-ramp is fast and clear, but the edges are rough.

Paying with it every day

Day to day, the virtual Visa behaves like a normal card and works with Apple Pay. Google Pay is the confusing one: the site says it is “in development,” while the card page says both Apple Pay and Google Pay work with virtual cards on creation. Treat Google Pay as unconfirmed. The app is fully localised in Arabic, which matters if that is your language.

Some merchant categories may be limited. Cash-like transactions — crypto purchases, gambling, money transfers — “may be limited.” So buying more crypto directly with the card, gambling, or sending money are the three things most likely to be declined.

The app and its rewards are worth knowing. On iOS the app rates 5.0 out of 5, but from just one rating — read on 21 October 2026 — so treat that star figure as very thin evidence. It needs iPhone with iOS 15.1 or later; a Google Play listing exists (com.spay.wallet) but its rating was not read. You earn points on card purchases, up to 1.5 % back depending on tier; 200 points equals $1 USDC, redeemable from 1,000 points, credited to your card balance. There are also bonus points for referrals, completing verification, and getting your first card.

If a charge goes wrong, the process is the standard one: try the merchant first, then report a disputed charge within 60 days after it posts to your statement. Card-network chargeback rules apply, and won chargebacks are credited back to your SPay account.

What can go wrong

Beyond the missing fees and the unfinished features, these are the risks worth sitting with.

Who is behind it. SPay is operated by NOVARA TECH L.L.C S.O.C, and SPay itself says it is not a bank. The card is issued by Third National under a licence from Visa, and the terms are governed by Puerto Rico law. That is a normal structure for a card programme, but it is worth knowing you are dealing with an e-money-style issuer and a programme manager, not a bank you can deposit into.

Your money, whose keys. The custody model is not stated. Whether your crypto is held by SPay or stays in a wallet you control is the single most important unanswered question here, and it changes what happens if the provider has problems. Ask it before you load anything large.

On-chain transfers are one-way. Blockchain transfers are typically irreversible. A deposit sent on a network the card does not support, or to an address belonging to another network, can be lost or need manual recovery with no guarantee. Check the network — Tron TRC-20, Ethereum ERC-20, or Base for withdrawals — before you send.

Stablecoins are not risk-free. USDT and USDC aim to hold a dollar value, but stablecoins can and have depegged: TerraUSD collapsed in May 2022, and USDC briefly lost its peg in March 2023. Tether also says it disables tokens in wallets on the OFAC sanctions list, so stablecoins are not censorship-proof. Note also that USDC is not a native option on Tron — Circle stopped supporting that in February 2024 — which matters because USDT is.

Declines and holds. Some merchants decline prepaid or foreign cards because the BIN lookup shows the card type and issuer country, and address verification is generally unavailable for foreign-issued cards. A declined authorisation can also leave a hold on your funds for several days, typically up to seven.

Little track record. No official incidents came up in checking, and a search for reviews turned up no SPay results — but that absence cuts both ways: with no Trustpilot page and a very new app listing and no dated public events, there is simply not much history yet either way. Reliability scored 7 out of 10 mainly because the operating and issuing structure is conventional and complaints were not found, not because a long clean record exists.

Getting help. Support runs through an in-app AI assistant that hands off to a human; Platinum includes 24/7 support and Infinite a priority 24/7 concierge. There is a phone number, +971 55 947 6972.

What to take instead

If SPay’s promise — a crypto card with tiers and points — is what you want, these are the other names that came up in the same category, so you can compare rather than settle:

• Cardex — scored 5.6 / 10, a touch above SPay. Advertises “one crypto card, 200+ countries,” runs on the VERVE, VISA, Mastercard and UnionPay networks, and offers virtual and physical cards. Funding is by USDT, USDC and BTC wallets. Its distinguishing feature is real-time crypto-to-fiat conversion at the moment of payment, with an “AI-Powered Conversion Rate” that scans exchange rates and picks the best one as you spend. Its app listing is Naira-focused (paying in Naira), and its fees are not stated.

• CardFlow — scored 4.9 / 10. Aimed at Nigeria and “Nigerians and global users.” A virtual USD Mastercard you can create in minutes, and creating a virtual card is free per its FAQ. Funded with Bitcoin, USDT, ETH or a Naira bank transfer. Other fees not stated.

• HyperCard — scored 4.7 / 10. A prepaid card with a balance in USD or EUR; you deposit crypto such as USDT, BTC or ETH in the app and it converts onto the card. Its app says it works in “more than 176 countries” — that is acceptance, not eligibility — and the network and fees are not stated on the pages available.

All three sit in the same narrow band as SPay, roughly 4.7 to 5.6. None of them, on what is published, gives you a clearly safer or clearly cheaper deal; they are variations on the same idea at a similar stage. SPay’s edge is its tiers and points; its weakness is the fees it does not publish.

Who I would recommend it to

I would recommend SPay to someone outside the U.S. who: cannot easily get an ordinary bank card; wants a virtual Visa they can add to Apple Pay today; holds USDT or USDC and is comfortable topping up in crypto; and likes the idea of earning points and having Platinum-tier purchase protection on what they spend. If that is you, the $9.99 Platinum plan is a low-cost way to test whether the card works in your daily life.

I would not recommend it if any of these are true: you need a physical card or cash withdrawals soon; Google Pay is your only option; you make frequent non-dollar purchases and the 3 % FX and cross-border fees would bite; you cannot tolerate fees that are not published; or you want to hold large balances without knowing who holds the keys. For any of those, a regulated bank account or a better-established card is the safer first stop — and if you are a U.S. citizen, SPay is not for you at all.

One last, quiet point. Because most people fund these cards by converting crypto, each card payment can be treated by tax authorities as a disposal of a digital asset, measured at its value on the date of the transaction. I am not a tax adviser and this is not advice — but if you use SPay regularly, keep records, and check the rules where you live.

Frequently asked questions

What is SPay card?

SPay is a crypto-linked payment card. You deposit crypto into the SPay wallet, move stablecoin value onto a virtual Visa card, and spend it like an ordinary card in shops and online. It is issued by Third National under a licence from Visa, and SPay says it is not a bank. It comes in three tiers: Platinum, Signature and Infinite.

Is SPay a bank?

No — SPay itself states it is not a bank. The card is operated by NOVARA TECH L.L.C S.O.C and issued by Third National under a Visa licence, with the terms governed by Puerto Rico law. That is a card-programme structure, not a bank account, which is worth keeping in mind when you hold a balance on it.

Who owns SPay?

SPay is operated by NOVARA TECH L.L.C S.O.C. The card itself is issued by Third National as a partner of the Visa network. These are the two named companies behind the product; beyond that, ownership beyond the operator is not detailed on the public pages.

Does SPay card require KYC?

Yes — verification is required during onboarding. Which documents, whether proof of address is needed, and the age requirement are not stated on the card’s public pages. The app also unlocks with Face ID or a 6-digit passcode. Expect to complete checks before your card is usable.

Is SPay card available in my country?

There is no published country list. For “current country coverage” the card points to its Contact page, so availability is handled on request. Two firm limits do apply: you must not be blocked or sanctioned by the U.S. (OFAC), and you must attest you are not a U.S. citizen.

How do I top up SPay card?

Deposit USDT (Tron TRC-20 or Ethereum ERC-20), USDC (Ethereum ERC-20), or native ETH and TRX into the SPay wallet, then move funds onto the card from your USDC balance in amounts from $10 to $500. Credit arrives in minutes. A deposit fee and who pays the network fee are not stated, and no fiat top-up is documented.

Can I withdraw money from SPay?

Yes — withdrawals are sent as USDC on the Base network to any self-custody wallet. Two cautions: funds sent on the wrong network cannot be recovered, and the withdrawal fee is not listed. Note also that USDC is not natively supported on Tron.

Is SPay card free?

Not quite. The one-time fee per plan is $9.99 for Platinum, $19.99 for Signature, or $49.99 for Infinite, and a physical card costs $99 one-time when it launches. No monthly fee is stated. Separately, the foreign-exchange and cross-border fees are each up to 3%.

Is SPay card safe?

There is no evidence of harm, but there is also not much history — the app is new and few public complaints or incidents surfaced. The card uses passcode or Face ID unlock, push notifications for card activity and your own spending limit. What is not stated is the custody model, i.e. who holds your crypto keys; ask before loading large sums.

How do I delete my SPay account?

The public pages do not set out an account-deletion process, so I cannot give you the steps. The practical route is the in-app support — an AI assistant that can hand you to a human, or the phone line +971 55 947 6972. Before you close anything, move any remaining balance off the card first.

Content created by the «cryptocardtested» team