Head to head
UPay Wallet vs Ethena Pay
Both cards run on the same benchmark test, so this compares deducted cost rather than advertised rates.
| Metric | UP UPay Wallet | Et Ethena Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Overall rank | #34 of 35 | #1 of 35 |
| FX spread | 1.5% | 1% |
| Base cashback | 3% cashback | 4% |
| Custody | Custodial | Non-Custodial (no option to see keys until deleting account |
| Virtual card | $10 | Yes, Free |
| Physical card | $100 | No |
| Spend limit | Configurable from $15,000 to $200,000 | |
| ATM withdrawals | Physical card only, $2 plus a 1.5% FX fee | |
| Setup time | 10 minutes | 10 minutes |
| KYC steps | 3 | 5 |
| Score | 6.5/10 | 8.5/10 |
UPay Wallet
UPay suits a narrow audience well. The eSIM feature is genuinely useful, the asset-management side is well built, and a 1.5% FX fee on USD and cross-currency conversion is below average. The product is clearly designed for Chinese investors first, and the interface shows its age.
Ethena Pay
Crypto Card Review: Ethena Pay I've been testing Ethena Pay for the last couple of days, and it feels (almost) premium. It's in Beta and nearly ready for public launch; here are my first thoughts. Positives: - Non-USD FX Fee: 1% (cashback negates and beats this) - 4% Cashback on all purchases is sweet (up to 5% w/Pro) - UI is possibly the best among all cards I've tested - Personal US/EUR/GBP IBAN accounts - Insights page showing spending by categories and earning breakdowns - 5% APY - Instant deposits with limited Fees Negatives: - Apple Only (for now) - Multiple "Coming Soon" features - Non-custodial, but no way to see your keys without deleting your account. Rating: 7.5/10 As soon as it's on Android and includes a few of its promised upcoming features, this will be a 9/10.
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+