Kolan Card

What is the Kolan Card?

Kolan is the cross-border money app behind Hurupay, a Kenyan-born, US-incorporated fintech that rebranded to Kolan on 4 August 2026 while keeping Hurupay Inc. as its legal entity. The pitch is one account for someone who earns in dollars from abroad: your own USD, EUR and GBP account details to receive payments by ACH, wire, SEPA, Faster Payments, Apple Pay or crypto, the ability to keep the money in dollars rather than convert it, and a virtual Visa card you can create in seconds and spend wherever Visa is accepted. On top of that sits a trading suite — crypto, memecoins, perpetuals, prediction markets and tokenised stocks — which is where the app has been heading since the rebrand.

The account side is the mature part. The company says it has processed more than $50 million for freelancers since January 2025 and was marginally profitable as of March 2026, run by a ten-person team co-founded in 2023 by COO James Mugambi. It is a Circle Alliance partner, and the app has 4.2 stars from 787 ratings on Google Play.

The card is a credit card secured by your own crypto collateral

This is the single most important thing to understand, and it is invisible from the marketing. Kolan publishes four separate card agreements — US consumer, international consumer, US business and international business — and the US consumer one is titled, in full, "KOLAN CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT OPENING DISCLOSURES – SET CREDIT LIMIT". It is a credit account, not a spending balance.

What that means in practice is mechanical and worth reading twice. Your spending limit is generally set to the market value of the digital assets you supply as collateral. The terms give a plain example: provide digital assets worth $100 and your spending limit is $100 across all your Kolan cards; once that is spent, you must either pay the balance down or add more collateral. The collateral is held through smart contracts on Ethereum, Polygon, Optimism and Arbitrum, and Kolan expressly disclaims responsibility for how those contracts perform. If the value of your collateral drops below your unpaid charges, Kolan may demand more collateral or you may be subject to a liquidation event at its discretion. Spending limits are described as dynamic, changeable without notice, and reducible to $0.

So the card is not a debit card drawing on a wallet balance with a stablecoin logo on it. It is a collateralised line of credit, where the crypto you deposit is the security, and the company's own terms say Kolan "does not itself extend credit, set interest rates, determine repayment terms or hold Collateral". The interest rate today is genuinely 0% on purchases, but the issuer and Kolan reserve the right to introduce interest on new purchases in future.

Disclosures that contradict each other

Two official documents from the same company describe the money differently. Kolan's website footer states that banking services are provided by SSB, Member FDIC, and that funds deposited at SSB are eligible for FDIC insurance up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank. The general terms of service state that banking services are provided by a licensed partner, Bridge Ventures Inc., and that funds on Kolan are settled in USDC stablecoin and not insured by FDIC or any other deposit insurance corporation in the countries it operates. Third-party coverage describes stablecoin-backed accounts, and the company's own materials describe converting incoming payments into USDC.

Both statements can be technically true at once — dollars sitting at an insured bank versus balances held in stablecoin — but they lead to opposite conclusions for a user deciding how safe their balance is, and nothing on the marketing pages reconciles them. The registered address is inconsistent too: the terms give 651 N Broad Street, Suite 201, Delaware, while the website and press materials give 500 Treat Avenue, San Francisco.

One issuer that is never named

Across all four agreements the card issuer is referred to only as "the Issuer", defined as the entity "identified on the back of the Kolan Card". The only concrete issuer fact published is that the card is issued under licence from Visa. Independent company profiles describe the card as issued by a bank partner under a card network licence, funded from the user's Kolan balance. By comparison, other cards in this directory name their issuing bank and programme manager outright, so the omission is conspicuous rather than incidental.

What the account actually costs

The account layer is competently priced for its market: receiving salary or payroll payments from registered businesses and platforms such as Gusto, Upwork, Rippling, Fiverr and Payoneer carries no cap, ACH deposits above $100 are free apart from a $2 flat fee on smaller ones, transfers between Kolan users and USDC or USDT withdrawals cost $0, and the card carries no annual fee. Wire deposits cost $30 more than ACH, per-transaction deposit limits sit at $4,999 unless you ask for more, and withdrawal costs depend on the payout partner. Exchange rates are indicative in the app and your final rate is confirmed at the moment of conversion, with any margin built into that rate rather than published.

Kenya: a market the company left

Kolan's early story was built on Kenya, and it no longer serves it. Hurupay ended USD banking services for Kenyan customers, with Business Daily Africa reporting the exit under the headline that the US crypto firm left "amid anti-money laundering scrutiny", and local coverage describing the withdrawal of USD banking, cross-border transfer and cryptocurrency services — cutting off the payment route local freelancers and remote workers had been relying on. Kenya still appears in the company's marketing content. It is a live demonstration of the risk this whole category carries: when a banking partner withdraws, the account goes with it, and the user is left to find another route.

Where this sits in the directory

A Tier-3 placement with three stars reflects a real, operating cross-border account with meaningful volume behind it, held back by a card structure that is a collateralised credit facility presented as everyday spending, an FX cost of up to 3% plus 3% on international purchases, no cashback at all, an unnamed issuer, self-contradicting disclosures on who holds the money and whether it is insured, and a documented exit from a market it had built.

If you want a stablecoin-funded card with a published fee line and no collateral mechanics, compare RedotPay or KAST. For the whole field, see the crypto cards directory.

Kolan card and account features

• Virtual Visa card created in seconds from the app, spent anywhere Visa is accepted, charged in dollars.
• USD, EUR and GBP account details in your own name, so you can be paid like a local by foreign clients and platforms.
• Receive payments several ways: ACH and wire into your dollar details, SEPA for euros, Faster Payments for pounds, plus Apple Pay and crypto deposits.
• Unlimited incoming payroll and salary payments from registered businesses and platforms including Gusto, Upwork, Rippling, Fiverr and Payoneer.
• No annual fee on the card, and free transfers between Kolan accounts.
• USDC and USDT withdrawals at no cost, and the same for transfers between users.
• Hold dollars or euros instead of converting on arrival, which is the core value for users in high-inflation economies.
• Convert and withdraw to local currency with an in-app exchange rate calculator and the final rate confirmed at conversion.
• 0% interest on purchases under the current card terms.
• Real-time merchant and transaction data in the app, with spending visible against your limit.
• Card controls in the app for managing the card and its use.
• Multi-currency support across dollars, euros and pounds in one account.
• Business accounts on separate terms, with their own US and international card programs.
• A trading suite in the same app: crypto and memecoin trading, perpetuals, prediction markets and tokenised stocks.
• Identity verification in-app, described as fast, with "verified from day one" compliance messaging.
• Regulated-partner framework, with a Circle Alliance partnership and named banking infrastructure on the account side.
• iOS and Android apps, actively maintained — the iOS build was updated on 28 September 2026.
• Arabic, Spanish and English market content aimed at freelancers earning across borders.

Not available or not disclosed

• Cashback or any rewards programme — Kolan offers none on the card
• A physical card, anywhere on either brand, despite an ATM fee schedule existing in the card terms
• The identity of the card issuer, which is defined only as the entity printed on the back of the card
• A supported-country list for the card; availability "may vary by location"
• An FX or conversion margin figure
• Balance transfers and cash advances under the international card terms
• Service in Kenya, where the predecessor brand ended USD banking services
• Perpetuals and prediction markets for UK residents

What you can deposit and what backs the card

Kolan accepts crypto deposits alongside bank transfers, and the two named assets in its own pricing are USDC and USDT — withdrawals of both cost nothing. The account settles in stablecoins behind the scenes: the terms of service state that funds on Kolan are settled in USDC, third-party coverage describes stablecoin-backed USD, EUR and GBP accounts, and the company describes instant stablecoin settlement as a way to protect balances from local currency devaluation.

For the card, the crypto you deposit does more than fund spending — it becomes collateral securing your credit limit. The international card terms define "Supported Blockchains" as Ethereum, Polygon, Optimism and Arbitrum, with more networks added at the issuer's discretion, and they describe the collateral as being held through smart contracts. Kolan states it does not control and is not responsible for the operation, security or performance of those smart contracts, and that it does not itself hold the collateral.

How the crypto mechanics actually work

• Your limit equals your collateral value. The terms give a worked example: $100 of digital assets yields a $100 spending limit across all your Kolan cards, after which you must pay down the balance or add collateral.
• A falling market can trigger a call. If the market value of your collateral drops below your unpaid charges, Kolan may require you to add collateral, or you may be subject to a liquidation event at its discretion.
• Smart contract risk is yours. The agreement disclaims responsibility for the smart contracts holding the collateral, and waives your right to require it to pursue other remedies or exhaust the security first.
• You cannot spend from your own wallet. There is no self-custody wallet flow to pay from; the card spends against a collateralised credit line attached to your Kolan account.
• TradFi-style protections follow the card, not the crypto. The card is issued under licence from Visa, so network acceptance and chargeback rights apply to purchases, and the agreement carries the usual arbitration clause and an over-the-line fee structure.
• Cash-like crypto purchases are restricted. Buying cryptocurrency, money orders, wire transfers and person-to-person transfers are listed among restricted cash-like transactions on the card.

The custody answer, stated honestly

Kolan's marketing describes a self-custody app and its terms describe a custodial account, and both are partly right. Balances you hold in the account are custodial — bank infrastructure with a named licensed partner and stablecoin settlement — while the collateral behind your card sits in smart contracts that the company says it does not control. That hybrid is why this listing records the custody model as hybrid rather than picking a side, and it is worth reading the two definitions side by side before you decide how much to leave in the account.

Kolan card fees

Kolan publishes four card agreements and the fees inside them differ, so what you pay depends on which program your account sits in. The card is marketed as a free virtual Visa card with no annual fee, and that part holds up. What is not on the marketing pages is the foreign spending cost, which under the international terms is up to 3% FX plus up to 3% cross-border, or the fact that the US program charges a different, much lower 1%.

Account and deposit fees

• ACH deposits: free above $100, with a flat $2 fee on deposits under $100; minimum $5
• Wire deposits: $30 more than ACH, so a flat $32 on wires under $100; minimum $50
• Deposit limits: up to $4,999 per transaction, raisable on request
• Payroll and salary receipts: no limit when paid by registered businesses or platforms such as Gusto, Upwork, Rippling, Fiverr and Payoneer
• USDC and USDT withdrawals: $0
• Transfers between Kolan users: the brand's older pricing literature cites 1% flat fees on transfers, with instant stablecoin settlement
• Withdrawals to local banks: cost depends on the payout partner, shown before you confirm
• Currency conversion: the rate is indicative in the app and confirmed at conversion, with any margin inside the rate rather than published as a fee

What a real month looks like

Receive $2,000 of client work by ACH and it costs you nothing, hold it in dollars, and spend it on US-dollar merchants and you pay no card fee at all beyond the annual fee of zero — with no cashback to earn back either. Spend that money on foreign-currency merchants inside the international program and up to 3% FX plus up to 3% cross-border applies, so a $500 foreign purchase can cost up to $30 in card fees alone, before any conversion the network applies. Users in the US program pay 1% instead. Cash out to a local bank and a partner fee applies on top. The account is competitive; the card is the expensive part, and the gap between the two programs is worth establishing before you plan spending.

What to confirm before committing

• Which of the four card programs your account sits in, because the foreign spending cost is either 1% or up to 3% plus up to 3%
• Who the issuer actually is — it is only defined as the entity printed on the back of the card
• Whether your balance sits at SSB as an FDIC-eligible deposit or is settled in USDC and uninsured, since the website and the terms of service say different things
• How collateral is valued, at what point you get a margin call, and what a liquidation event would cost you
• The conversion rate and margin applied when you move between currencies
• Whether your country is supported, given the absence of any published country list and the Kenyan exit