What it costs to use a card.
A fee to create a card, a fee to add money to it, and a share of what you spend outside the United States.
Five charges, and you can see each one coming.
Card creation
$3.00
Taken once, from the deposit that creates the card, on top of the funding fee. The number is live straight away.
Card funding
$4.00
$4.00 on every deposit. Taken out of what you send rather than billed separately.
Cross-border payment
3% + $1.00
On a payment to a merchant outside the United States. A US checkout — which most subscriptions are — is not charged it.
Contactless payment
$0.50
On a tap to pay through Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Declined payment
$0.75
The first decline on a card costs nothing. The second and third cost $0.75, and the third closes the card for good.
*If the card does not have enough balance to cover a decline charge, the card is terminated on the second decline.
What happens to a deposit that arrives short.
Less than was asked for
The fees still come out of whatever arrives — the creation fee on a new card, the funding fee on a top-up — and the rest goes onto the card. Nothing is held back waiting for the difference.
Under $10.00
A deposit below $10.00 is not processed and does not reach the card.