How much does opening a card cost, and what is the minimum limit?
Card issuance starts at $1 per card and varies by BIN; a service fee is charged on top of the card limit — same monthly-volume tiers as card top-ups, from 2% down to 0.5%. Minimum card limit is 30 USD. Example (at the 2% tier): a card with a 30 limit and a $2 issuance fee deducts 32.60 from your account (30 limit + 2 issuance + 0.60 service fee), and the card holds 30.00 — whatever limit you enter is what the card gets. All fees are shown live on the issuing page before you submit.
When people ask about the card issuance fee and the minimum limit, the key is to separate two completely different kinds of money. One is money you spend and never get back: the issuance fee, plus a service fee on the card limit (from 2%, tiered by monthly volume down to 0.5%). The other is purchasing power that goes onto the card in full and still belongs to you: the card limit itself, minimum 30 USD. Lump the two together and you will badly overestimate the cost of opening a card. Remember that the limit simply moves from your platform balance onto the card; not a cent of it evaporates. The only money actually spent to open a card is those two small fees above.
Opening a card deducts three amounts, but only two count as cost
| Component | Amount | Counts as cost? |
|---|---|---|
| Card limit | Your choice, minimum 30 USD | No (it is your money, moved onto the card in full as spendable purchasing power) |
| Limit service fee | Limit × tiered rate (2% → 0.5%, by calendar-month cumulative top-up volume), charged separately (a 30 card at the 2% tier = 0.60) | Yes |
| Issuance fee | from $1 per card (by BIN) | Yes |
The minimum limit is 30; go lower and it won't cover the first charge
30 is not an arbitrary figure; it is the safety line calculated on the card side. Mainstream US AI subscriptions on the $20 plan usually charge around $20–22 in practice (some states add sales tax), past-due back-charges reach $24–25, and API credit purchases can hit $26. If the card limit is below 30, it may fail to cover a tax-inclusive, back-charge or API-purchase amount and get declined by the issuer for “insufficient limit”. Among card-side failures on the platform, this kind of failure is most often precisely because the limit was set too tight. 30 leaves a buffer above the known worst case of $26, and is the lowest value that keeps a first charge from being declined for insufficient limit. This line only governs whether the first tax-inclusive subscription can be settled; the card limit itself is a one-time total pool, and whenever you want to spend more you can simply top up the card.
The issuance fee is fixed at from $1; only the service fee (tiered 2% → 0.5%) grows with the limit
One fixed formula computes the maximum total cost for any limit: total cost = card limit + limit × the service-fee rate + issuance fee. The service-fee rate is tiered by calendar-month cumulative top-up volume: 2% under $1,000, 1.5% from $1,000, 1% from $5,000, 0.8% from $10,000, 0.5% from $50,000; the tier applies for the whole month and any overcharge is refunded automatically. The key structure is this: the issuance fee is fixed at from $1 by BIN and does not rise with the limit; the only part that grows with the limit is the service fee. The limits in the table below are examples (you set the actual value), the issuance fee is taken at its $2 ceiling as the worst case, and the service fee is shown at the 2% tier, so the real figure may be lower.
| Card limit (example, USD) | Issuance fee (at $2) | Charged to balance (fee at the 2% tier) | Usable on card (full limit) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | $2 | 32.60 | 30.00 |
| 50 | $2 | 53.00 | 50.00 |
| 100 | $2 | 104.00 | 100.00 |
Check it this way before submitting, and you won't overpay
- Choose the BIN—it determines which tier of the from $1 issuance fee applies.
- Enter the card limit: minimum 30 USD; leave a cushion based on the tax-inclusive amount of your first subscription, ideally covering at least $22.
- Look at the three items the card-opening page calculates in real time—the limit (credited to the card in full), the service fee (from 2%, tiered by monthly volume, charged separately), and the issuance fee—and how much the total will draw from your platform balance.
- Confirm the total does not exceed your platform balance; if it falls short, top up first (minimum first deposit is 35 USDT, crediting 34.82, more than enough to cover one minimum-limit card).
- Verify that total figure and then submit; the card is issued in seconds, with the card number, expiry date, CVV, and billing address all shown together on the card detail page, each field copyable.