Nexo Card Review 2026: Credit Mode vs Debit Mode, Cashback Rules, Fees and the Collateral Risk
By the MyCardCrypto team · Updated 9 October 2026 · Fees checked on 9 October 2026
The Nexo Card is a free Mastercard that borrows against your crypto (Credit Mode) or spends it (Debit Mode). Cashback needs Credit Mode and a $5,000+ portfolio; pledged coins legally belong to Nexo.
Best for: EEA residents with $5,000+ on Nexo who want to spend without selling.
Not for: US residents, UK cashback seekers, balances under $5,000, anyone uneasy about liquidation.
Our rating: 6.5/10 — free and cheap in EEA, UK and Swiss currencies; top cashback needs NEXO tokens; Credit Mode is a loan. This is not financial advice; fees and availability change — check the issuer before applying.
Is it right for you?
We have not held this card. On 9 October 2026 we read Nexo’s EEA Terms of Service (updated 30 June 2026), the Tangany custody agreement, the MiCA disclosures on the EEA card page and 13 help-centre articles. Where Nexo’s pages disagree, we print both; our editorial policy explains how we check.
It is a good fit if you:
- live in the EEA (except Bulgaria), the UK, Andorra, Monaco or Argentina;
- keep at least $5,000 on Nexo, the line for cashback, savings interest and the plastic card;
- want to pay in euros or pounds without selling coins, and will keep any loan small.
Look elsewhere if you:
- live in the US: Nexo’s February 2026 relaunch there did not include the card;
- live in the UK and want cashback, which Nexo does not pay UK residents;
- hold less than $5,000: you get a virtual card with no cashback and no savings interest, while KAST’s free tier pays cashback with no minimum (our KAST review);
- want your own keys: Nexo holds your crypto for you.
Nexo Card: Credit Mode vs Debit Mode
One card, two ways to pay, switched in the app. Nexo launched it on 13 April 2022 as a “crypto-backed Mastercard” and added Debit Mode on 31 August 2023. The issuer is DiPocket UAB, an e-money institution licensed by the Bank of Lithuania.
Fees checked on 9 October 2026 against the help centre’s Credit Mode and Debit Mode articles:
| Checked 9 Oct 2026 | Credit Mode | Debit Mode |
|---|---|---|
| What pays | A loan in xUSD against your crypto | EURx, GBPx, USDx, stablecoins or crypto in Savings |
| Cashback | 0.5–2% in NEXO or 0.1–0.5% in BTC, with $5,000+ | None |
| Interest you pay | Compound; 3.9% (Gold) or 1.9% (Platinum) below 20% LTV; Base and Silver not published | None |
| Your coins | Pledged; legal title passes to Nexo | Converted to the card currency when you pay |
| Default setting | Yes: new cards start here | Switch in the app |
Credit Mode: every purchase is a loan
Each payment comes out of your “Available to Borrow” balance and is “added to your total Outstanding Loan in xUSD”. To back it, Nexo moves enough crypto from your Savings Wallet to your Credit Wallet as collateral.
There is no repayment schedule and no credit check. Interest is compound, calculated daily on a 360-day year, and runs even while a purchase is pending, which can last up to 45 days if the merchant is slow to claim it. Repaying in FIATx or stablecoins is free; other crypto costs a flat 0.26%.
The debt is always in xUSD, even when you spend euros: Nexo converts non-dollar purchases at a fixer.io rate fixed when you pay, and a purchase outside your card currency also pays the FX fee.
Debit Mode: spending what you hold
Debit Mode pays from the FIATx balances (EURx, GBPx, USDx), stablecoins and crypto in your Savings Wallet, in an order you set by drag and drop. Your card currency can’t be removed from that list, and it is fixed at activation: EUR or GBP in Europe, USD in Argentina.
Debit purchases earn no cashback. Money left unspent earns 2.75–6.5% a year on FIATx and 0.20–13% on crypto, but only while your portfolio is worth $5,000 or more.
Nexo card cashback rules in 2026
The “up to 2%” on the card page has four conditions. You pay in Credit Mode, your portfolio is worth at least $5,000, and you take the reward in NEXO tokens. And you are Platinum, which means holding NEXO worth at least 10% of everything else. Bitcoin payouts are lower at every tier.
| Tier | NEXO you hold | Paid in NEXO | Paid in BTC | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | None needed | 0.5% | 0.1% | $50 |
| Silver | 1% of the rest | 0.7% | 0.2% | $100 |
| Gold | 5% of the rest | 1% | 0.3% | $150 |
| Platinum | 10% of the rest | 2% | 0.5% | $200 |
Caps reset on the first day of each month. Your tier depends on the ratio of NEXO to the rest of your portfolio and is recalculated in real time, so price moves can shift it. If the portfolio falls below $5,000, you get 7 days to top it up; after that, cashback and savings interest are suspended until you do.
How much NEXO the tiers take
The help centre’s own example: $2,000 of NEXO next to $50,000 of bitcoin is a 4% ratio, which is Silver, not Gold. On the $5,000 minimum, Gold takes about $238 of NEXO and Platinum about $455. On a $20,000 portfolio it is about $952 and $1,818, held in NEXO, whose price also sets what NEXO cashback is worth.
What earns nothing
- Anything paid in Debit Mode, and any card held by a UK resident.
- Money transfers, ATM cash, investment platforms, brokers (crypto purchases included), rentals paid through agents, government and postal services.
- Top-ups of PayPal or Curve accounts, which fall under merchant code 8999.
- Rewards under $0.01, and purchases later refunded or charged back: Nexo takes that cashback back.
Nexo card fees and limits
Fees checked on 9 October 2026 against the help centre’s “limits and fees” article and the FAQ on Nexo’s card page. Where they differ, the table shows both.
| Fee or limit | What Nexo charges (EEA and UK) |
|---|---|
| Monthly, annual, inactivity fees | None |
| Virtual card | Free; needs a $50 portfolio |
| Physical card | First card and expiry replacements free by Default post; needs $5,000 and Gold or Platinum |
| Other reissues, DHL Express | Not published; shown only in your account (app or web) |
| FX fee, weekdays | 0.2% for EEA, UK and Swiss currencies; 2% for others |
| FX fee, weekends | 0.7% and 2.5% (an extra 0.5%) |
| Free ATM cash a month | Base €200, Silver €400, Gold €1,000, Platinum €2,000 |
| ATM above the allowance | 2%, min. 1.99 EUR/GBP/USD (help centre); min. 1.99 EUR/GBP (card page) |
| ATM limits | €600 a withdrawal, €2,000 a day, €10,000 a month |
| Purchases, cards issued after 11 Sept 2026 | €70,000 a payment or a day, €300,000 a month |
| Purchases, older cards | €30,000 a payment or a day, €100,000 a month |
| Repaying Credit Mode in crypto | 0.26% (free in FIATx or stablecoins) |
In pounds and dollars the free ATM allowance runs from £180 or $150 (Base) to £1,800 or $2,000 (Platinum), resetting at 00:00 CET on the 1st; purchase limits are rolling. Clients with $100,000 in assets get higher limits through Nexo Private.
The weekend surcharge runs from Friday 21:00 UTC to Sunday 22:00 UTC in summer, an hour later in winter. FX comes on top of the Mastercard rate, and paying through Apple Pay, Google Pay, Curve or PayPal “may be subject to additional fees”, Nexo warns.
At fuel pumps you need at least 175 USD available. And all of this can move: Nexo “may update these fees and limits at any time, at our sole discretion”.
Nexo credit card: interest and the collateral risk
The card page advertises “Credit Lines starting from 1.9% interest”. The help centre narrows that: 1.9% a year is for Platinum and 3.9% for Gold, both only while your Credit Wallet’s loan-to-value (LTV) ratio stays below 20%. Nexo publishes no card rate for Base or Silver and tells clients to “Always refer to the Nexo app for your applicable rates”.
Our arithmetic: staying under 20% LTV means every $1,000 of card debt needs $5,000 of collateral in the Credit Wallet; an optional setting tops it up automatically. The Terms let Nexo revise interest “at our sole and absolute discretion”.
How much you can borrow
Each coin has its own LTV, set “dynamically” by volatility and liquidity. The help-centre text gives one example, BTC at 50%: $10,000 of bitcoin supports up to $5,000 of borrowing. The full table did not render for us; check the app.
What the Terms say about your collateral
Three clauses in the EEA Terms of Service (30 June 2026) matter more than the interest rate:
- Ownership: once coins sit in the Credit Wallet, “title to such Digital Assets transfers to Nexo”, even with no loan outstanding; Nexo owes you equivalent coins.
- Liquidation: above the maximum LTV Nexo sells collateral to rebalance the loan, and it “retains the discretion to liquidate your Collateral without prior notice”.
- Insolvency: you waive “secured status in relation to the Collateral in the event of Nexo’s insolvency”; the Terms call you “an unsecured party”.
The custody protection is narrower than it sounds. In the EEA, crypto is held by Tangany GmbH, supervised by Germany’s BaFin under MiCAR, and its June 2026 terms say client assets are “not affected by Tangany’s insolvency”. Our reading: that covers what Tangany holds for you; it does not undo the title transfer of collateral to Nexo. Nexo’s EEA page adds that Earn and Borrow are “not in scope of MiCAR” and have no deposit guarantee.
These Terms cover EEA accounts opened from 30 June 2026; older EEA accounts and UK clients have versions we could not open. In the UK, a June 2024 Nexo post says an open credit line is repaid automatically if you miss Nexo’s deadline for the FCA-required checks.
Nexo card countries: who can get it
The help centre names the EEA, Andorra, Monaco and the UK, “as well as to residents of Argentina and other selected jurisdictions”. There is no full public list; the app’s Card tab checks your country. The card page FAQ, read the same day, still says it is “currently available only to citizens and residents of selected European countries”. Yet Nexo launched it in Argentina on 8 July 2026, with US dollars as the card currency.
- EEA: the June 2026 Terms require you to be a resident “of the EEA, excluding Bulgaria”, where Nexo accounts can’t be opened at all. Nexo’s MiCA FAQ lists the other 29 EEA states.
- UK: the card yes, cashback no; investor categorisation and an appropriateness test come first, and the categorisation is repeated yearly.
- Argentina: new clients get 10% back on the first purchase and up to USD 450 in rewards over three months. The 8 July post also promises fee-free ATM cash up to USD 1,000 and fee-free foreign spending up to USD 2,000 a month. The help centre’s dollar figures (Gold $600, Platinum $2,000) sit on pages marked “not intended for residents of Argentina”; confirm yours in the app.
- US: no card. Nexo relaunched Yield, Exchange, Loyalty and Credit Lines there on 16 February 2026, with Bakkt; the card was not on that list.
- Elsewhere: no account in Canada or New York State, among others; no cards for corporate accounts.
The Debit Mode article still lists “Bulgaria, the USA, and Canada” as unavailable, nearly eight months after the US relaunch. Identity checks need an ID “issued in the EEA, the United Kingdom, or another eligible country in Europe”, says the card page.
Is Nexo safe?
In the EEA the setup is licensed piece by piece: DiPocket issues the card under its Lithuanian e-money licence (number 75), Tangany holds crypto under MiCAR, and BaFin-supervised DLT Securities runs trading. Lending and Earn sit outside those licences. The Terms define Nexo as “any holding company, subsidiary, or entity belonging to the Nexo group of companies”.
The regulatory record concerns lending and yield, not the card:
- December 2022: Nexo announced a gradual US exit after over 18 months of talks with regulators.
- 19 January 2023: it agreed to pay $45 million, half to the SEC and half to states, over its unregistered Earn Interest Product.
- January 2026: California’s DFPI fined Nexo Capital Inc. $500,000; the release title calls it a “Crypto Lending Platform”, and news summaries say it lent without a licence (the release itself did not open for us).
Reviews are the strong point. On 9 October 2026 Trustpilot showed 4.4 out of 5 from 18,777 reviews: 83% five stars, 5% one star. Complaints from 2026 include “Unauthorized transactions and still no resolution” (14 September) and “Not for small investors anymore” (5 August), about the $5,000 minimum. App ratings are similar: 4.7 in the UK App Store and 4.2 in the US one; Google Play shows 4.62 on its UK listing and 4.24 on the US listing.
For a disputed purchase, Nexo files a chargeback through Client Care once you have tried the merchant; “the outcome is ultimately determined by the payment network’s dispute resolution framework”. The app can freeze the card, set limits and block online, ATM, contactless or wallet payments.
The honest catches
$5,000 is the real entry ticket
Below a $5,000 portfolio you get a virtual card and none of the extras: no cashback, no savings interest, no plastic. The physical card also needs Gold, so NEXO worth at least 5% of the rest of your holdings. Nexo called the threshold a “balance recommendation” in January 2025; an August 2026 Trustpilot review says it was “Quietly added”.
Credit Mode is on by default
In the help centre’s words, a new card “will automatically be set to Credit Mode”. Unless you switch, every coffee becomes a dollar loan backed by your coins, with interest from the moment of purchase. To spend only what you hold, change the mode on day one.
Outside EEA, UK and Swiss currencies, FX eats the cashback
Paying in dollars, dirhams or baht with a euro card costs 2% on weekdays and 2.5% at weekends. Platinum’s best rate is 2% in NEXO, so abroad you are at best even, before any loan interest. KAST charges no FX on US-dollar spending, and Wirex One lists FX as free.
Refunds and negative balances
Debit Mode refunds come back in your card currency, not in the coin you spent. If a merchant settles for more than your balance, your FIATx goes negative, Nexo limits the account and may cover the gap with your other assets. In Credit Mode, a refund claws back that purchase’s cashback.
Some prices live only in the app
We found no public figures for other reissues, DHL Express delivery or Base and Silver borrowing rates, and the LTV table did not render for us. DiPocket’s cardholder terms are “available on the Platform”, Nexo’s websites and apps, yet we found no public copy. Nexo can amend its Terms “without notice” if a change is non-material.
Debit Mode converts crypto when you pay, which can have tax consequences. We don’t give tax advice; our crypto card guide covers the general questions.
✅ Pros
- No running costs: no monthly, annual or inactivity fee; free virtual card.
- Low FX on EEA, UK and Swiss currencies: 0.2% on weekdays.
- Spend without selling: Credit Mode borrows against your coins, with no credit check.
- Free cash: €200 to €2,000 a month at ATMs, by tier.
- High limits: €70,000 a payment and €300,000 a month on new cards.
- Well reviewed: 4.4/5 from 18,777 Trustpilot reviews.
❌ Cons
- $5,000 gate for cashback, savings interest and the plastic card.
- Token-tied rewards: 2% only in NEXO, only at Platinum.
- Credit Mode is a loan: compound interest, liquidation without notice.
- Collateral belongs to Nexo while pledged; you are unsecured if Nexo fails.
- Costly abroad: up to 2.5% FX at weekends in currencies outside the EEA, UK and Switzerland.
- Gaps: no US card and no cashback for UK residents.
Nexo card vs KAST, Wirex One and Bybit Card
We use KAST ourselves (Standard tier, virtual card, since spring 2026) and used the old Wirex app from 2021 to mid-2026; Wirex One is its self-custodial relaunch. The table uses published numbers only: Nexo’s from 9 October, the others’ from 8 October 2026.
| Checked 8–9 Oct 2026 | Nexo | KAST Standard | Wirex One Base | Bybit (EEA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where | EEA (not Bulgaria), UK, Andorra, Monaco, Argentina | US, UK, EEA; no public list | 73 countries incl. EEA and UK; not US | EEA except Malta |
| Custody | Custodial (Tangany in the EEA) | Custodial; optional self-custody | Self-custodial | Exchange account |
| Annual fee | $0 | $0 | $0 | €0 |
| FX fee | 0.2% EEA/UK/CH, 2% other; +0.5% weekends | 0% in USD; 0.5–1.75% otherwise | Listed as free | 0.5% or 1% |
| Cashback | 0.5–2% NEXO or 0.1–0.5% BTC; Credit Mode, $5,000+ | 1.5% on the first $2,000 a month, in USD | 0.5% in USD; $25 a month redeemable | 1% for non-VIPs, no cap |
| Physical card | Free; needs $5,000 and Gold | $0 + $40 delivery | Not on Base | First card free |
| Free ATM cash | €200–€2,000 a month, then 2% | None: $3 + 2% | None on the virtual card | €100 a month, then 2% |
| Trustpilot | 4.4 (18,777) | 2.5 (220) | 2.3 (17,658) | 1.3 (bybit.eu, 400) |
KAST is the closest swap if you want neither a loan nor a house token. Its free Standard tier pays 1.5% in dollars on the first $2,000 a month with no portfolio minimum, and stablecoin deposits convert 1:1. The trade-offs: a 0.5–1.75% FX fee on euro and pound spending, cashback spendable only inside KAST, and Terms saying deposits are “sold to KAST”. More in our KAST review.
Promo code LBY9BQVJ: enter it at sign-up for 10% off a first paid membership (Standard is free).
Wirex One is the pick for your own keys: the wallet is self-custodial (keys via Privy) and FX is listed as free. Like Nexo, its better tiers depend on a house token: 1% cashback needs a $500 portfolio with at least 1% in WPAY. Details in our Wirex One review.
For a plain EEA debit card, the Bybit Card pays non-VIPs 1% with no cap, but crypto payments cost 0.9% and Bybit quotes FX as 0.5% and 1%. RedotPay covers the UK and most of the EU but adds about 2.2% to euro and pound payments. Our own cards meet in Wirex vs KAST vs Avici.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Nexo Card a credit card or a debit card?
Both. It is a Mastercard issued by DiPocket UAB with two modes you switch in the app. Credit Mode turns each purchase into a crypto-backed loan in xUSD, with no credit check and no fixed repayments. Debit Mode spends FIATx, stablecoins or crypto you already hold. New cards start in Credit Mode.
How trustworthy is Nexo?
It has operated since 2018, rates 4.4/5 on Trustpilot (18,777 reviews on 9 October 2026), and in the EEA Tangany holds crypto under MiCAR. Against that: a $45 million SEC and state settlement over its Earn product in 2023, a $500,000 California lending penalty in 2026, and Terms that give Nexo title to your collateral.
Is Nexo allowed in the US?
Partly. Nexo announced its US exit in December 2022 and agreed in January 2023 to pay $45 million over SEC and state charges about its Earn product. It relaunched Yield, Exchange, Loyalty and Credit Lines there on 16 February 2026, with Bakkt handling trading. The card was not included, and New York State residents still cannot open an account.
Do UK residents get Nexo card cashback?
No. The help centre says crypto cashback “is not available to clients residing in the United Kingdom”. UK residents still get the card in pounds, with 0.2% weekday FX on EEA, UK and Swiss currencies and £180 to £1,800 of free ATM cash a month by tier. Credit Mode is open after Nexo’s FCA-required checks.
Which is better, Nexo or Coinbase?
They do different jobs. Nexo is a custodial lender, so its card can borrow against your coins as well as spend them, and it is offered in the EEA, UK, Andorra, Monaco and Argentina. We have not reviewed Coinbase’s cards; the ones we could confirm are a prepaid Visa debit card in the US and UK and the US-only Coinbase One credit card.
Is the Nexo Card free?
Mostly. There is no monthly, annual or inactivity fee, and the virtual card is free once your portfolio reaches $50. The first physical card ships free by Default post but needs $5,000 and Gold or Platinum; other delivery and reissue fees appear only in your account. FX, and ATM cash above your free allowance, still cost money.
How does the Nexo referral program work?
You and a friend split a NEXO-token bonus worth 0.5% of the friend’s average portfolio balance over 30 days, capped at $2,500 each. The friend must add at least $5,000 within 30 days of signing up and keep the balance for another 30. It rewards bringing in savers, not card spending.
What happens to my collateral if crypto prices fall?
Your loan-to-value ratio rises. Above set thresholds Nexo asks for more collateral or a repayment, and an optional setting moves coins in automatically. Above the maximum LTV it sells collateral to rebalance the loan, and the Terms say it may do so “without prior notice”. The smaller your card debt against your collateral, the more room you have.
Final verdict
6.5/10. The Nexo Card suits an EEA or UK resident with $5,000 or more on Nexo who wants to spend without selling and treats Credit Mode as a short-term loan. For that person it is free to hold, cheap in EEA, UK and Swiss currencies and generous at ATMs, and its 4.4 Trustpilot score beats KAST’s 2.5, Wirex’s 2.3 and bybit.eu’s 1.3.
It loses points on the conditions. Cashback needs $5,000 and the top rate needs NEXO worth at least 10% of everything else; UK residents get none. Every rewarded purchase is a compound-interest loan, secured by coins that legally belong to Nexo and can be sold without warning. Under $5,000 it is a card with no rewards and 0.2–2.5% FX.
Want dollar cashback without a loan or a token? Compare KAST. Want your own keys? Look at Wirex One. Already hold $5,000+ on Nexo and pay mostly in euros or pounds? Then the card is a sensible add-on: switch to Debit Mode for everyday spending and use Credit Mode on purpose.