Grey Card

What the Grey Card is

Grey is a cross-border fintech built for emerging markets — founded in Nigeria as Aboki Africa and now operating as Grey Inc. — offering foreign accounts in USD, EUR and GBP plus local balances, transfers to 80+ countries and a virtual Visa card. The card is the spending layer on top of that account: it is linked straight to your balance, so there is no separate top-up, and it works anywhere Visa is accepted, including as a US-issued card for subscriptions like Netflix, Spotify, Apple, Google Ads and Coursera.

It is one of the cheaper ways into a dollar card in its markets: a one-time $5 creation fee ($4 on the Mastercard programme, with $1 credited back), no monthly or maintenance fees, and up to $10,000 a day and $50,000 a month of spend on the Visa card. Apple Pay and Google Pay work in supported regions, and each transaction is screened with 3D Secure.

Who issues it, and what the fine print says

The card is issued by Third National under licence from Visa, with Grey supplying the account and technology — the same split seen elsewhere in this directory, where the issuer is not a party to the platform's user terms. Grey's support material calls the product a debit card, but the cardholder agreement for the US programme is a set line of credit: 0% APR on purchases, a billing cycle, payment due 21 days after the cycle closes, and a $40 late payment fee. Your limit tracks your Grey balance in practice, but the document you accept is credit.

What it costs beyond the $5

The card itself carries no maintenance, funding or transaction fees. Costs sit in the account around it: receiving money over ACH, SEPA or FPS costs 0.8% (minimum $2/€2/£2, maximum $10/€10/£10), Fedwire deposits are a flat $20, BACS £15, CHAPS £25, EUR and GBP withdrawals 0.5% (€2–€10 / £2–£10), and currency conversion runs around 1%. The card adds a cross-border fee of up to 2% + $0.50 on non-USD purchases under the international terms, or a 1% international transaction fee under the US terms.

Where crypto fits

Only at the edges. The consumer card is funded from fiat balances, and Grey's card terms list supported blockchains (Ethereum, Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum) without offering crypto spending. The genuine crypto feature sits on Grey Business: USDC deposits and payouts over BEP20 and Solana, which can fund the same account your team cards spend from. Business accounts are currently marketed only in Nigeria, even though payouts reach 170+ countries.

Reputation

Grey carries more than 4,300 Trustpilot reviews and is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified, registered with FinCEN in the US and FINTRAC in Canada. Reviewers consistently praise fast cross-border payments and easy multi-currency setup; the recurring complaints are verification friction, unexpected fees, strict limits and occasional delays — consistent with a product where the account, not the card, generates most of the charges.

If you are comparing dollar cards for cross-border work, the Endl Card is issued by the same issuer, Third National, and the Reah Card uses it for corporate accounts. Compare the full field in the crypto cards directory.

Card features

• Virtual Visa card created in the app in under five minutes; a Mastercard programme is also documented in Grey's support centre.
• Linked directly to your balance — no separate card funding step, and the Visa card cannot be topped up.
• Spend from USD, EUR, GBP or a local balance, converted at the rate shown in the app when the transaction happens.
• Create multiple cards with individual limits for subscriptions, travel or ad spend.
• Freeze and unfreeze cards, adjust limits and track expenses in-app, with 3D Secure on every transaction.
• Apple Pay and Google Pay in supported regions, and acceptance anywhere Visa is accepted — 150 million merchants — including as a US-issued card where a service requires one.

The account around it

• Foreign accounts in USD, EUR and GBP with local details — ACH routing number, sort code and IBAN — plus a local currency balance.
• Receive payments from 80+ countries and send to over 80; business bulk payouts by CSV reach 170+ countries.
• Currency exchange, P2P transfers, bill payments, gift cards, eSIMs, invoicing and expense categories in the same app.
• 24/7 support, with in-app controls on every card.

Where it is offered

• Published regional offerings in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria, plus Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and China.
• Business accounts are currently marketed in Nigeria, with separate US and international card terms for consumer and business cardholders.

Crypto support: USDC, on business accounts

Grey Business accepts USDC deposits and payouts over BEP20 and Solana, confirmed on Grey's business pages and in its business FAQ. That USDC lands in the account your team expense cards spend from, so stablecoins can reach the card indirectly.

What the consumer card supports

Nothing crypto-native. The consumer card spends from fiat balances — USD, EUR, GBP or your local currency — and no BTC, ETH or stablecoin funding path is published for it. Grey's card terms reference supported blockchains (Ethereum, Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum) in the context of the card agreement, but no crypto spending feature is documented.

Practical read

Treat Grey as a dollar-account card with a stablecoin on-ramp for businesses rather than a crypto card. If funding everyday spending from crypto is the priority, cards that take stablecoin top-ups or collateral directly will fit better.

The card itself

• Card creation: $5 one-time for the Visa card, or $4 for the Mastercard with $1 credited to your balance. You need a minimum $5 balance to start, and the fee is shown before you confirm.
• Maintenance, funding and transaction fees: none.
• Interest: 0% APR on purchases, with Grey and the issuer reserving the right to introduce interest later.
• Cross-border fee (international terms): up to 2% + $0.50; foreign exchange fee on non-USD purchases up to 0%.
• US terms: international transaction fee of 1% of each transaction in US dollars.
• Late payment up to $40; returned payment up to $29.
• Cash advances and balance transfers: not available.

Spending limits

• Visa card: up to $10,000 per day and $50,000 per month, with no minimum spend.
• Mastercard programme: $10,000 spend cap, card deposits of $2–$2,500 and card withdrawals of $1–$1,000 per transaction.
• Limits can be increased on request in the app or reduced for budgeting and security.

Account fees around the card

• Receiving via ACH, SEPA or FPS: 0.8%, minimum $2/€2/£2, maximum $10/€10/£10.
• Fedwire deposits $20 flat; BACS £15 flat; CHAPS £25 flat.
• Withdrawing EUR or GBP: 0.5%, minimum €2/£2, maximum €10/£10.
• Currency conversion: approximately 1%.

What to check before you commit

Confirm which card your account is offered, since the Visa and Mastercard programmes carry different limits and funding models, and budget for deposit and conversion costs if client payments land in the same account you spend from.