Head to head
Stella Pay vs XPlace
Both cards run on the same benchmark test, so this compares deducted cost rather than advertised rates.
| Metric | St Stella Pay | XP XPlace |
|---|---|---|
| Overall rank | #26 of 27 | #3 of 27 |
| FX spread | 0% | 1% |
| Base cashback | No cashback | 1% + 1% |
| Custody | Custodial | Non-Custodial |
| Virtual card | $10 | Yes |
| Physical card | free physical card if you have 20,000 USD in the account | Yes (Gated) |
| Spend limit | $2,000 per day and $10,000 per month | $2000 lower tier - $750,000 highest tier |
| ATM withdrawals | 2% + ATM's fee. | |
| Setup time | 1 Day | ~10 minutes |
| KYC steps | 4 | 3 |
| Score | 5/10 | 8.5/10 |
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.
XPlace
XPlace works as a crypto-backed credit line rather than a prepaid debit card. It suits holders who would rather borrow than sell to fund living costs, but the variable APR on drawn credit and the modest spend limit need to be weighed before committing collateral.
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+