Does the merchant receive cryptocurrency?

No. RedotPay states that when you make a card transaction your cryptocurrency is converted to USD using a weighted average rate from the top 5 global cryptocurrency exchanges. The shop is paid in ordinary money. What the card removes is the need to cash out in advance, not the conversion itself.

Why can a refund come back smaller than the purchase?

RedotPay states that a transaction fee of around 1% is added on top of the merchant's price and that the merchant only receives the purchase amount, not the fee. A refund returns what the merchant received, so the original transaction fee may not come back with it.

Do I still hold my crypto?

Not in the self-custody sense. A card account like this is custodial — the company holds the balance and you rely on its security and solvency. It is a spending tool rather than a vault, so the sensible amount to load is what you plan to spend.

Is a crypto card free?

The card is free to hold and charged per action, so the cost depends entirely on how you use it. Issuance, converting crypto to spend, spending in a currency other than the card's, ATM withdrawals and topping up from a bank card are all separate lines in the published schedule.

Explainer

Crypto cards: your coffee shop is not taking crypto

A crypto card lets you hold a crypto balance and pay with it at any merchant that takes a major card network. It is a genuinely useful thing and most people have never heard of it. It is also widely misunderstood in one specific way: the shop is not being paid in crypto. A conversion happens when you tap, and that conversion is where the cost lives.

Affiliate disclosure

SMCM is a RedotPay affiliate and may earn a commission if you open an account through our link. SMCM may receive compensation if you click, register or purchase through certain links on this site. This never changes the facts we report.Every figure on this page is quoted from RedotPay's own published pages, with the source and the date we read it next to it, so you can check the ones that matter to you.

What actually happens when you pay

The merchant is not receiving crypto
RedotPay states that when you make a card transaction, your cryptocurrency is converted to USD using a weighted average rate from the top 5 global cryptocurrency exchanges. The conversion happens at the moment you pay, so you do not have to cash out in advance — but a conversion is still what makes the payment work.
RedotPay help centre, read 2026-09-07.
A refund can come back smaller than the purchase
RedotPay states that a transaction fee of around 1% is added on top of the merchant's price and that the merchant only receives the purchase amount, not the fee. When the merchant refunds, they return what they received — so the refund can be slightly lower than what you originally paid. This is the transaction fee, which is a separate line from the crypto conversion fee in the schedule below.
RedotPay help centre, read 2026-09-07.

What it costs

The card is free to hold and charged per action, so the total depends entirely on how you use it. Published schedule, quoted rather than summarised.

RedotPay published card fees
Card	Issuance	Spending in the card's currency	Spending in another currency	ATM withdrawal
Virtual card	$10 one-off	No fee	1.2%	Not available
Physical card	$100 one-off	No fee	1.2%	2% on a USD card up to $10,000/month, 3% above

Converting crypto to spend: 1%. This is separate from the 1.2% charged when you spend in a currency other than the card’s, so a foreign purchase funded from crypto meets both.
Topping up with a credit or debit card: 3%, with a minimum of $1. Funding the card from an ordinary bank card is the most expensive route in the whole schedule.
Certain merchants cost more: 1.5% with a minimum of $0.50, on a named list that includes gaming platforms, Facebook Ads and Discord. The first three qualifying transactions each month are free, and RedotPay says the list is reviewed regularly — check it before you rely on a category.
The issuance fee comes out of your balance: It is deducted when the card is issued rather than charged separately, so the balance has to cover it. A welcome reward cannot be used to pay it.
What no fee schedule can price: This is a custodial product: RedotPay holds the funds, not you. Fees are the knowable cost; custody is the one that is not on any table.

Read on 2026-08-31 from RedotPay's published card limitations and fees. Fee schedules change — check the current page before you rely on a figure.

Before you get one

Questions rather than verdicts. The answers move per card and per country, and yours will be more current than ours.

Who holds the funds?: A card account is usually custodial: the company holds the balance, not you. That is the one risk no fee table prices, and it is the reason to load what you intend to spend rather than what you intend to keep.
What does a conversion cost, and how many apply at once?: Converting crypto to spend and spending in a currency other than the card's are separate charges. A foreign purchase funded from crypto can meet both.
How are you funding it?: Topping up from an ordinary credit or debit card is usually the most expensive route in the schedule — more than the conversion itself.
Is your country supported, and is KYC required?: Availability is region-dependent and identity verification is normal. Neither is a detail you want to discover after paying an issuance fee.
What does a disposal mean where you live?: If paying converts crypto, each payment may be a disposal for tax purposes in your country. That is a question for your own rules, not for the card's marketing page — but it is worth asking before the card becomes your daily spending method.

The card we have reviewed

RedotPayCrypto card

Trustpilot 2.7 from 815 reviews (check it yourself). That is a low score and we are not going to talk around it — it is the reason this page leads with the mechanism and the fees rather than with the product.

Availability is region-dependent, identity verification is required, and the account is custodial. The full review, the restricted-country list and the sources are on its page.

Common questions

Does the merchant receive cryptocurrency?: No. RedotPay states that when you make a card transaction your cryptocurrency is converted to USD using a weighted average rate from the top 5 global cryptocurrency exchanges. The shop is paid in ordinary money. What the card removes is the need to cash out in advance, not the conversion itself.
Why can a refund come back smaller than the purchase?: RedotPay states that a transaction fee of around 1% is added on top of the merchant's price and that the merchant only receives the purchase amount, not the fee. A refund returns what the merchant received, so the original transaction fee may not come back with it.
Do I still hold my crypto?: Not in the self-custody sense. A card account like this is custodial — the company holds the balance and you rely on its security and solvency. It is a spending tool rather than a vault, so the sensible amount to load is what you plan to spend.
Is a crypto card free?: The card is free to hold and charged per action, so the cost depends entirely on how you use it. Issuance, converting crypto to spend, spending in a currency other than the card's, ATM withdrawals and topping up from a bank card are all separate lines in the published schedule.

Educational information, not financial, legal or tax advice. A crypto card account is not a bank account and balances are not covered by deposit protection. Whether a payment counts as a disposal for tax depends on where you live. Page last checked 2026-09-07.