A shut-down card, a 1.7 out of 10, and one question left for anyone with money still on it

Updated October 2026

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If you landed here looking for a BitPay card to order, stop reading the rest of this page and check your balance instead. The card programme is closed. Cards stopped working on 15 June 2023, loading stopped a fortnight earlier on 1 June 2023, and any money left on the card was supposed to be mailed out by cheque around 30 June 2023. The BitPay website in 2026 does not show a card at all. Whatever you were hoping to read about fees, limits or supported countries, there is no current answer, because the product itself is gone.

That makes this page an unusual review. There is nothing to recommend and almost nothing to compare, so what I can do is explain how the programme ended, what it means if you are one of the people holding a leftover balance, and where you would start looking instead. I scored it 1.7 out of 10, and the reason for such a low number is not that the card was badly built — it is that it does not exist any more.

The conditions described here are current as of October 28, 2026.

Verdict: 1.7 out of 10, because there is no card

The honest summary is that the BitPay card scored 1.7 / 10, and every one of the low marks traces back to the same fact: the programme closed in June 2023 after the issuing bank pulled out of crypto. That is a different situation from a card that is expensive, or unreliable, or slow at refunds. This one is a closed programme, so “reliability”, “everyday use” and “top-up options” cannot be scored on their merits — there is nothing left to use.

Who does that leave? Honestly, two groups. The first is former cardholders trying to track down a leftover balance or an undelivered cheque. This page has a section on exactly that. The second is people who landed on “BitPay card” while comparing crypto cards today and assumed it was still a live option. For you, the card is not an option at all, and the sooner you read that, the less time you spend on it.

One more thing worth saying plainly, because it is easy to misread. A low score on a closed card is not a warning about a bad operator. BitPay is a long-standing company that says it is licensed to engage in Virtual Currency Business Activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services, and it is listed as licensed by NYDFS with NMLS ID#1496848. That licensing is a company-wide statement, not a statement about the card, and it does not bring the card back. The wallet business and the card business are separate things, and only the card went away.

What happened to the programme

The timeline is short and unusually well documented, which is helpful if you are piecing together what happened to your own money. In January 2023, Metropolitan Commercial Bank announced its exit from crypto banking. On 17 May 2023, cardholders received an email saying the prepaid Mastercard programme was winding down. Loading stopped on 1 June 2023. ATM access and spending ended on 15 June 2023. Remaining balances were mailed as cheques around 30 June 2023.

Three things follow from that sequence, and each of them costs you something as a reader. First, the card was a prepaid Mastercard, not a bank account. Second, the money on it was your own money sitting with a provider, and the way it came back was a cheque in the post, not an instant reversal. Third, the issuer’s decision, not BitPay’s marketing, set the deadline — a bank leaving a sector can end a card programme regardless of what the card brand would have liked.

Sources disagree on what came after, and I would rather tell you that than invent a resolution. One review reports that the replacement card never launched. CryptoCardHub, an unofficial third-party source with no date on its claim, says new applications are paused and a waitlist is open. Those two statements are not compatible with certainty, and neither is confirmed by BitPay’s own pages. The BitPay site in 2026 shows no card. Treat “waitlist” as unverified.

There is also an older precedent, because this is not the first time this company’s card activity has stopped. An earlier 2018 shutdown of a non-US prepaid Visa followed Visa revoking the licence of Wave Crest, the issuer behind it. A promised replacement card is reported not to have launched. So if you are reading this hoping the third attempt will work, the pattern is worth weighing: two shutdowns, one of them in a different country, and a replacement that did not arrive.

Most of the card’s specifications are simply not stated any more — who could get it, what KYC involved, what the card looked like, what it cost, what fees applied, which wallets connected, what rewards or tiers existed, which currencies were held, delivery arrangements, verification steps. That is not me withholding them. The card’s public pages no longer say. The one present-tense thing the site does show is download badges for the App Store, Google Play, Windows and Mac with no ratings attached; I did not read the store ratings, so I have nothing to offer there.

What you may find quoted online is a historical, unofficial price list, from a review rather than from BitPay: a 3% foreign transaction fee, and ATM withdrawals at 2.50 USD, a 5 USD monthly fee after 90 days of inactivity and a 10 USD standard card replacement. Take those as a record of what the card used to cost, not as terms you could rely on.

If you already have the card, or money you never got back

If you read that timeline and recognised your own situation, this is the part that matters for you, so I will not bury it. The pattern of a closing prepaid programme is always the same: a notice period, then loading stops, then spending stops, then users are asked to withdraw what is left. BitPay followed that pattern. The cheque was to go to the address linked to your card, within roughly 30 days after the 15 June 2023 cut-off. So the ordinary case is a cheque arriving in the post — or not arriving, if the address on the account was old or wrong.

What I could not find is as important as what I did. No refund amount is published, and no claims process is published. The card’s own pages do not state how to enquire about an undelivered cheque, and card support has ceased. BitPay’s site does still have a help library and says support is reachable from the app, so the company-level support line is the place to start; the languages it covers and its opening hours are not stated. The wallet provider behind it is named as BitPay Software, LLC.

You should know what a cheque means for you in practice. If you never received it, you are not dealing with a payment network — there is no chargeback here, because a chargeback is a refund ordered by a card issuer, and the issuer’s programme has shut. In the US, debit card reversal rights come from Regulation E and credit card rights from Regulation Z, and prepaid-card coverage varies and should not be assumed to apply. So the realistic path is the support desk and the cheque, not a dispute. The official dispute process for the card is not stated, because the programme is closed.

On the practical question of whether you were allowed to convert your remaining balance to crypto or withdraw it another way: the card’s own pages say nothing, and I have no basis to tell you that an alternative existed. Anyone who tells you they can recover a closed prepaid card balance through some back channel is selling you something.

Two figures I have seen for the old card, again unofficial and historical, from a review rather than from BitPay: a 10,000 USD daily purchase cap and a 25,000 USD monthly ATM cap, and domestic ATM withdrawals at 2.50 USD. I include them only so you can recognise the shape of what you had, not because they mean anything today.

What can go wrong

Here is the honest risk picture for you, and it is mostly about the company rather than the card.

The first risk is that the money is simply gone from your point of view. Transfers are typically irreversible, and a stolen private key has no built-in recovery, because the network cannot freeze or return funds. In a custodial setup, control of the crypto belongs to whoever holds the private key or seed phrase — the provider holds the credentials, so you have to trust the provider completely. A seed phrase, typically 12 to 24 words, is an unencrypted form of the private key, and anyone who obtains it can restore the wallet and spend its funds. Custodial platforms have a track record: Mt. Gox, about 350 million US dollars reported stolen 2011–2014; Coincheck, about 400 million US dollars in 2018; Ronin Network, 625 million US dollars in 2022. A closed card programme is a smaller version of the same lesson — your balance depends on someone else’s operations continuing.

The second risk is the complaint pattern. I read Trustpilot for the BitPay company, not for the card, on 20 October 2026: 1.2 out of 5 from 299 reviews, 89% of them one-star. The themes in the recent reviews are consistent and relevant to anyone still holding a balance or an account — funds that cannot be withdrawn or sent (June to October 2026), KYC described as burdensome or declined, including a KYC check over a 15 dollar payment in October 2026, support reachable only by bots with no phone option (2026), and account closure refused (December 2025). Some reviews are scam-loss claims promoting recovery services; those are unverified and you should ignore them. The company does not reply to negative reviews.

Read that carefully, because there is a temptation to over-read it. These are reviews of a company’s wallet and account business in 2026, not of a card that existed in 2023. They are relevant to you mainly if you are still trying to resolve a balance through BitPay support — you may find that support slower and less forthcoming than you would like.

The third risk is the ordinary one that applies to any card that has gone: identity checks and account closure. KYC rules require regulated businesses to verify customers and assess risk as part of anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing law, including ongoing monitoring and suspicious-activity reporting. In the EU, due diligence covers name, address, date of birth, nationality and identity documentation, a sanctions check, the purpose of the relationship, and whether you are a politically exposed person. If due diligence cannot be completed, the institution must refrain from the transaction or, where necessary, end the relationship — which is why accounts get closed or frozen pending documents. In the US the customer identification programme requires name, date of birth, address and an identification number, and electronic systems also validate proof-of-address documents. Nationality is recorded and screened separately from residence, because sanctions screening and issuer risk policy are often applied to citizenship and country of birth as well as to your address. The card’s own verification requirements are not stated, because the programme is closed.

For completeness on the company itself: BitPay says it is licensed by the New York State Department of Financial Services. That is a company-wide claim, and the card issuer is not officially stated. Under EU law, electronic money institutions must safeguard customer funds by segregating them in dedicated accounts or insuring them, but such funds are not the same as bank deposits and may not be covered by deposit guarantee schemes. A prepaid card draws on a stored balance, while a standard debit card asks the cardholder’s bank to withdraw funds from a linked account at the time of purchase — many crypto cards behave like prepaid cards, and this one did.

What to take instead

Since the BitPay card cannot be the answer, here is what is actually in front of you. I want to be careful here: these are live-ish options with their own gaps, not recommendations, and I would not push any of them to you without knowing your country. My knowledge of who can get what is uneven, and the honest move is for you to check eligibility yourself before you start.

That table is deliberately half empty. MSX scoring highest while almost nothing about it being stated is exactly the sort of thing you should be careful with, and I would not read the score as an endorsement.

Whop is the most concrete of the three, and the most geographically limited. Consumer coverage is listed as Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. Businesses: 41 states. Unsupported consumer countries listed are Belarus, China (Mainland), Cuba, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam; unsupported corporate countries include Russia and Belarus. What basis that list uses — citizenship or residence — is not stated. If you are outside the US, this one is likely not for you.

On how each of these spends your money: Whop says “no extra fees” with no issuance or monthly amounts listed, spends from a Whop balance where a pending balance becomes usable as soon as a payment arrives while standard withdrawals use settled funds, and is backed by stablecoin collateral from a linked wallet — though which coins and networks are not stated. Cardex converts in real time at the moment of payment and says an “AI-Powered Conversion Rate” scans global exchange rates and picks the best one when you spend, with no fee percentage stated; you fund from USDT, USDC and BTC wallets, networks not stated.

Before you pick any of these, three general facts that decide more than the marketing does. Card networks are not the same as issuers: Visa and Mastercard license issuers and can suspend a programme — in November 2022 Visa said it had terminated its global agreements with FTX, and the FTX US debit card programme was wound down by its issuer. WaveCrest, a Visa card issuer that supplied crypto card brands, was suspended by Visa in Europe in 2018, closing all WaveCrest-issued Visa programmes. And the crypto brand is often only a programme manager or front-end: the network routes messages and sets rules, a licensed issuer holds the programme, and the brand markets it.

Regulation is worth checking too, if you are in Europe. MiCA, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, took legal effect in June 2023; its rules on asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens applied from 30 June 2024, and the remaining provisions, including crypto-asset service provider rules, from 30 December 2024. Under it, e-money tokens may be issued only by a credit institution or an electronic money institution. The transitional period lets providers already operating under national law continue only until 1 July 2026 or until they are authorised or refused authorisation, whichever comes first, and ESMA keeps an interim register of authorised providers that you can check. In the US, FinCEN guidance treats administrators and exchangers of convertible virtual currency as money transmitters, while people merely buying goods or services are not. A card is regulated separately as a payment service, so a crypto card often rests on two licences.

Who I would recommend it to

Strictly speaking, I would recommend this card to nobody, because it is closed and cannot be obtained. That is the honest answer, and it would be dishonest to dress it up.

The narrower question is whether I would recommend anything at all from this page. If you are a former cardholder with an unreceived cheque or an unresolved balance, the thing to do is not to read reviews but to contact BitPay support through the app or the help library, with your account details and the card’s linked address ready. Keep a record of what you send and when. If the money is small, weigh how much time it is worth; if it is large, keep at it in writing.

If you are shopping for a crypto card today, start from your own country and your own bank rather than from a brand name. Whether a card is usable for you turns on details that no review can settle: whether you can pass KYC where you live, whether the issuer accepts your nationality, whether your address matches the card’s billing address, and whether the provider is on the register that applies to you. If you want to understand the mechanics before you commit, read how these cards actually work — prepaid versus debit, custodial versus self-custody, and the network and issuer split — because those three questions explain most of the differences between the options.

Frequently asked questions

What was the BitPay card?

It was a prepaid Mastercard that let you convert cryptocurrency and spend it as a fiat balance. Loading stopped on 1 June 2023 and spending and ATM access ended on 15 June 2023, after the issuing bank, Metropolitan Commercial Bank, announced its exit from crypto banking in January 2023. It no longer exists.

How did the BitPay card work?

You loaded a balance and the card spent from that stored balance, the prepaid model rather than a direct bank debit. Remaining money was to be mailed as a cheque to the address linked to the card, within roughly 30 days after the 15 June 2023 cut-off. Balances were expected to be mailed around 30 June 2023.

Can I still get a BitPay card?

No. The card programme is closed, the BitPay site in 2026 shows no card, and the card’s public pages no longer state eligibility. One unofficial source says applications are paused with a waitlist, but that is undated and unconfirmed. Treat the card as unavailable.

Who owns BitPay, and is it a bank?

BitPay is a cryptocurrency payments company, not a bank, and its wallet provider is named as BitPay Software, LLC. It says it is licensed to engage in Virtual Currency Business Activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services, with NMLS ID#1496848 — a company-wide statement, not a statement about the card.

What were BitPay card fees?

They are not officially disclosed, and the card is closed. Unofficial and historical figures from a review: a 3% foreign transaction fee, 2.50 USD per domestic ATM withdrawal, a 5 USD monthly fee after 90 days of inactivity, and 10 USD for a standard replacement card. On-chain network fees for a deposit are charged by the blockchain, not the card provider.

Was the BitPay card safe to use?

The card no longer exists, so the question is about the past. Bitcoin transfers and similar transfers are typically irreversible, and a provider holding your crypto holds the keys — a seed phrase, typically 12 to 24 words, is an unencrypted key that anyone can use to spend the funds. There is no built-in recovery mechanism when a key is stolen.

Why did the BitPay card close?

Metropolitan Commercial Bank announced its exit from crypto banking in January 2023, and cardholders were emailed on 17 May 2023 that the prepaid Mastercard programme was winding down. Loading ended 1 June 2023, spending and ATM access ended 15 June 2023. One review reports a promised replacement card never launched; that is a report, not a confirmation.

What should I do if I still have money on a BitPay card?

Start with BitPay’s own support, reachable from the app, plus the help library on the site — card support itself has ceased. Card dispute terms are not stated, and a chargeback is an issuer-ordered refund, which does not exist here. If you were outside the US, note that prepaid-card coverage varies by country and should not be assumed.

What are the best alternatives to the BitPay card?

The ones I could evaluate at all are Cardex (5.6 out of 10), MSX (6.4 out of 10) and Whop Cards (5.2 out of 10). Cardex is a multi-network crypto debit card with virtual and physical versions, but its cost and fee percentage are not stated. Whop is a Visa card limited to 31 listed US states for consumers and 41 for businesses. Check your own eligibility first.

Can I add a BitPay card to Apple Wallet?

Not any more — the card programme closed on 15 June 2023, so there is no active card to tokenise. For context on how it would have worked: Apple Pay replaces the card number with a device-specific Device Account Number stored in the Secure Element, never on Apple servers, and each payment uses a one-time dynamic security code. The issuer can also restrict a tokenised number to certain channels.

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