Crypto Card Exchange Rates: How They Affect Your Purchases Abroad ∙ Kolo

Providing minimum restrictions on spending, crypto cards have become popular among enthusiasts as well as those who enjoy the convenience of making transactions with virtual money. But along with their advantages there is a crucial factor: fees and costs. Indeed, they can silently gnaw at your holdings, if you’re not careful.

In this post, we consider the various fees that are related to crypto cards. From set up to transaction and foreign exchange fees, we’ll help guide you through crypto card exchange rates and show you how and where you can spend less.

Key Takeaways

Exchange rates directly affect foreign costs. It all depends on how quickly your cryptocurrency is converted into the local fiat currency to which it is paired and then how much you actually spend on purchasing goods while overseas.
Crypto cards may use other rates than market prices. Some vendors have proprietary or slightly delayed exchange rates that doesn’t match exactly those in the real-time market.
Hidden fees can distort the actual exchange rate. Markups, spreads, or real-time crypto conversion fees might be baked into the exchange rate, which means your purchase becomes more expensive than anticipated.
Volatility could give an impact on timing and value. With the unpredictability of crypto prices, the value of your holdings could fluctuate pretty significantly between the moment when you do a top-up and when you make an actual transaction.
Multi-currency compatibility brings more flexibility. Some crypto cards provide features such as holding multiple fiat currencies or automatically converting your money into local currency at the time of withdrawal, which may help to minimize crypto card overseas charges.

What is a Foreign Transaction Fee?

A foreign transaction fee is charged when you make a transaction with your crypto card in a currency other than the basic card currency (USD, EUR, etc.), if you consider crypto card international use while traveling, for example. In general, it is a percentage of the purchase amount, tacked on to a transaction for currency conversion and international processing.

Not all crypto cards apply these, but a few issuers tout their lack of a foreign transaction fee as a perk. But even in such a case you may get whacked with hidden currency conversion markups, and not-so-great exchange rates. So, users will need to look hard at the fine print of everything when paying with the card abroad.

Understanding Exchange Rates and Crypto Cards

A crypto card is a universal tool enabling you to spend your digital assets at regular merchants. Although they accept fiat currency, not crypto, your card provider makes the following operations:

Crypto → fiat conversion (such as USD or EUR);
Optional: fiat → local currency conversion (outside the country).

There is a specific crypto card foreign exchange impact and fees at each step. The two-step conversion results in the additional expenses.

Some crypto cards offer to convert at live rates; others provide a buffer or use a more recent figure. The exchange rates offered on your card may also include a foreign transaction fee.

Real-Time Conversion Fees Explained

Real-time exchange fees, which is often part of Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) in crypto at point-of-sale, are additional payments that are charged on top of your transaction if you choose to pay in your native currency instead of the currency of the country you are at the moment. Crypto card conversion rates can range from 1 to 3% or more, and they are typically folded into the exchange rate you are quoted, making it seem as if the rate itself is less favorable than it actually is.

Impact of Foreign Exchange (FX) on Crypto Card Transactions

Any time you use a crypto card overseas your digital assets are converted to local fiat. How much your crypto is worth in that fiat currency is based on the foreign exchange (FX) rate at the time of conversion. A low FX rate means you will get less local value for your crypto.

Some cards convert crypto to one basic fiat currency, like USD or EUR, and then back to the local one. This double exchange results in further FX losses and costs. Crypto card issuers or payment networks can charge:

Foreign transaction fees in crypto (typically 1–3%)
Currency conversion spreads (the markup we put on the FX rate)

The foreign exchange rate is directly correlated to how much your crypto spending is worth in other countries.

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) and Its Effects

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) is a service provided by some international merchants or ATMs that allows you to pay in your local currency rather than the local currency of the country that you are currently in. Thus, for instance if you are in France and paying with a card that is bitcoin-based and operates in USD, the merchant could select to charge you in USD instead of EUR.

And although you’re spending crypto, DCC comes into play only after your crypto has been converted into your home fiat currency (e.g. USD or EUR). In most cases, DCC is a bad idea, as it leads to:

Worse exchange rates: A merchant or payment processor determines DCC fees, and it’s generally not as good as what your card company would provide.
Extra expenses: You might pay a crypto card DCC fees plus a foreign transaction fee, so in total it could cost you even more money.
The ‘Opportunity cost’ of transparency: You surrender control over what happens to the exchange rate after you exchange it.

Comparing Crypto Card Providers Exchange Rate Fees

Here is a comparison of best crypto cards for travel:


Card	Foreign transaction fee	Crypto-to-fiat conversion fee	ATM withdrawal fee
Binance Card	0% inside ESP (including other currencies than EUR); 2% outside Europe.	No explicit fee, utilizes Binance rates with possible spread	0% within Europe; 2% outside Europe.
Crypto.com Card	0.2% for non-EUR/GBP trades that are conducted within Europe; 2% outside Europe.	1% top-up fee on loads	2% after surpassing monthly free limit
Coinbase Card	No foreign transaction fee, though foreign currency conversion charges apply	~2.5% conversion fee; ~1.5% spread; Total: ~4%.	0% from Coinbase; fees may be imposed by ATM providers
Kolo Card	No foreign transaction fees in crypto	0% conversion from crypto-to-fiat	0% ATM withdrawal fee

Tips to Minimize Exchange Rate Costs When Using Crypto Cards Abroad

Using these crypto cards abroad tips you will reduce the total amount of money for transactions:

Pay in local currency wherever it’s possible. Never accept DCC at the point of sale or ATM.
Select a card with low (or even without) FX fees. Get crypto cards that have 0% foreign transaction fees (e.g., Kolo Card, Binance Card).
Transfer your crypto to fiat in advance (if possible). This allows you to lock in a good rate when the market is favorable, preventing last-minute volatility.
Check exchange rates before you spend your money and if possible, avoid any payments during weekends, when these providers increase their rates.
Use stablecoins to avoid volatility. You can also look at stable coins as a way to minimize volatility. Use cards that can funded by stable coins such as USDT or USDC.
Don’t make many small transactions (if possible). FX fees are applied on a transaction basis, so try to group your purchases together and pay as few times as possible.

These recommendations help you in avoiding FX fees with crypto cards.

Case Study: Using a Crypto Card in a Foreign Country

Let's see how crypto card travel charges work on the example of some traveler:

A tourist called Andrew from the UK comes to Spain and plans to use his Binance crypto card to pay for daily expenses, such as food, transport and shopping. Here are some of his expenses:

Airport coffee purchase: €4.50. Conversion Crypto → EUR: The card performs conversion the EUR at the point of sale. BTC exchange rate is slightly less than the market rate. Fee applied is 0% (in EU no FX fees are applied on Binance Card). Total BTC Paid (equivalent): $4.65 (due to small rate spread).
Restaurant Meal: €32. Terminal offers DCC – to pay in GBP instead of EUR. Andrew chooses to pay in EUR (the local currency), as a result he saved 4%.
ATM Withdrawal: €100. Eurex ATM Fee: €3.50, Binance FX Fee: 0%. BTC withdrawn: above average but not unexpected with higher weekend-rate buffer.
Hotel Payment: €210. Crypto market drops during the payment. BTC conversion will process at swipe time, losses from the dip: ~$6 compared to the previous rate 30 minutes ago.

Thus, as you can see minimizing crypto card fees overseas is possible at each transaction.

Conclusion

Knowing the costs associated with crypto card abroad fees is vital when making decisions. Whether it is an upfront activation fee, a transaction fee or a hidden cost of conversion, it's all gets added tpo the total score.

When you choose a card, keep in mind your spending patterns, and the reward programs and security features available. Watch out for exchange rates and hidden compliance costs that can blindside you. This will help you to minimize your expenses while abrod.