Costs, licensing, consumer protection Privacy, self-custody, censorship resistance

CEX.IO Card

CEX.IO · Mastercard

3.0/5 1.0/5 · Data verified on

The CEX.IO Card is a virtual Mastercard issued by CEX.IO Limited (Gibraltar) that converts crypto held in the exchange's custodial wallet into euros at the point of payment, accepted at over 30 million merchants across 150+ countries. It is available only to residents of the European Economic Area (EEA), with no issuance fee and no annual fee, and a 1% FX markup on foreign-currency spending. There is no fixed cashback rate: CEX.IO offers only variable promotional crypto rewards (BTC/ETH/DOGE). The daily spending limit is 3,000 euros. ATM withdrawals are not officially supported and the related fees are undocumented.

31
Transparency: Very low
31/100 · see methodology
31
Data exposure: Minimal
31/100 · lower is better for sovereignty · methodology

Data & conditions

Network Mastercard
Fund custody Custodial (platform holds funds)
Issuance fee Free
Annual fee Free
ATM withdrawal not declared
FX markup 1%
Cashback Not disclosed
Contactless Yes
Virtual card Yes
KYC Full
Privacy 2/10
Supported countries EEA · 30+ countries
Funding / solidity CEX.IO Limited, società registrata a Gibilterra (No. 116846) con sede nel Madison Building, regolata dalla Gibraltar Financial Services Commission come DLT Provider.
Estimated net annual cost €0/year
Regulator Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC)
Segment B2C
Funding / solidityCEX.IO Limited, a company registered in Gibraltar (No. 116846) based in the Madison Building, regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission as a DLT Provider.
MiCA / License status Gibraltar FSC DLT Provider (FSC0686FSA)FinCEN MSB (US) CEX.IO Limited is registered as a DLT Provider with the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (FSC0686FSA) and as a Money Services Business with FinCEN in the United States.

Strengths

  • No issuance fee and no annual fee
  • Apple Pay and Google Pay support with 100+ spendable cryptos
  • Instant virtual issuance, accepted in 150+ countries
  • No notable sovereignty advantage documented.

Weaknesses

  • Available only in the EEA, no US/UK coverage
  • No fixed cashback, only variable promotions
  • Custodial wallet and no ATM withdrawals
  • Custodial: the platform holds your funds and can freeze or lose them.
  • Full KYC required: verified identity, zero pseudonymity.
  • Subject to regulation (CEX.IO Limited is registered as a DLT Provider with the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (FSC0686FSA) and as a Money Services Business with FinCEN in the United States.): reporting to authorities and freezes on order.

Verdict

C D ★ 3.0/5 ★ 1.0/5 Estimated net annual cost: €0/year

Custodial card regulated in Gibraltar (GFSC) and by FinCEN, available only in the EEA with full KYC: a recognised framework but outside EU/Bank of Italy supervision, so protection for the Italian user is moderate.

Fully custodial wallet, mandatory KYC and crypto conversion handled by the exchange: user sovereignty over funds is low.

Privacy & anonymity 30% 0.5
Fund control 20% 0.0
Censorship resistance 20% 1.5
Costs 10% 3.8

Promp's editorial rating based on real fees and net annual cost. Promp reviews third-party products independently.

"Sovereignty" rating: score computed on privacy/anonymity (30%), fund control (20%), censorship resistance (20%), trustless/auditability (20%) and costs (10%). Same data, different weights.

Reputation

What happened to people who used CEX.IO Card, and what users say. External signals: they do not feed the promp.it rating.

Incidents & regulatory actions

History not verified

We have not yet completed the incident search for this service: no entries here does not mean no events.

Public reviews

4.2/5 330,274 reviews
  • Google Play ↗ 4.3/5 294,171 reviews

    From the page's structured data (ratingValue 4.31, ratingCount 294,171): ratings count, not written reviews. 'CEX.IO App - Buy Crypto & BTC' (io.cex.app.prod). Reviews cover the exchange app as a whole, not the card alone.

  • Trustpilot ↗ 3.0/5 23,183 reviews

    Distribution: 77% five-star, 8% one-star; only 67 reviews in the last 12 months, mostly negative. Company replies to 90% of negative reviews. Profile of the CEX.IO exchange, not card-specific.

  • App Store ↗ 4.4/5 12,920 reviews

    Exact figure from iTunes API (average 4.43, US storefront). App 'CEX.IO: Crypto Wallet/Exchange', id 1047225016. Reviews cover the exchange app as a whole, not the card alone.

Weighted average across 3 public review platforms (330,274 reviews in total), weighted by volume. This is not our rating: it is those platforms’ average.

FAQ

Is the CEX.IO Card a Visa or a Mastercard?

It is a virtual Mastercard issued by CEX.IO Limited, accepted at over 30 million merchants in 150+ countries.

Where is the CEX.IO Card available?

Only to residents of the European Economic Area (EEA); it is not available in the United States or the United Kingdom.

Sources

Update history

✓ Terms unchanged since Jul 10, 2026

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