Head to head
Stella Pay vs EtherFi
Both cards run on the same benchmark test, so this compares deducted cost rather than advertised rates.
| Metric | St Stella Pay | Et EtherFi |
|---|---|---|
| Overall rank | #26 of 27 | #2 of 27 |
| FX spread | 0% | 1% |
| Base cashback | No cashback | 3% instant |
| Custody | Custodial | Non-Custodial |
| Virtual card | $10 | First free, $10 for additional |
| Physical card | free physical card if you have 20,000 USD in the account | $50 (metal unlocked on higher VIP tiers) |
| Spend limit | $2,000 per day and $10,000 per month | Up to $30,000/day on the free Core tier |
| ATM withdrawals | 2% + ATM's fee. | $250/day limit, 2% flat fee, no free tier |
| Setup time | 1 Day | ~8 minutes |
| KYC steps | 4 | 5 |
| Score | 5/10 | 9.2/10 |
Stella Pay
The US Merchant availability and the AliPay/WeChat enabling of this crypto card make it very usable in 2 difficult markets. However, the card has minimal perks and low marketing. It just works.
EtherFi
EtherFi charges a 0.51% spread when you swipe in a foreign currency, but the instant 3% cashback more than neutralises it. Net cost on the benchmark purchase came to $1.45, below the mid-market value of the same basket. Stay under the $2,000 monthly cap and the card pays you to spend.
Who ranks these cards
I'm Tristyn Pawson, founder of ConsistenC.xyz. Over the last five years I've worked on marketing, development and growth across five crypto cards and neobanks, building at least three of them from scratch.
Alongside that I've run in-depth research on 20+ crypto banks to understand what actually makes someone keep a card in their wallet. These rankings reflect that: which problems are tolerable, and which ones are genuine deal breakers.
- Years in market
- 5
- Cards built on
- 5
- Neobanks researched
- 20+