What does a card top-up cost?
Card top-up carries a 2% service fee and moves funds from your platform balance to the card instantly.
Topping up a card and topping up your platform balance are two separate movements of money at two different points in the funding chain, and they carry different fees — separate them first and this fee becomes clear at a glance. USDT first enters your platform balance (that step uses a tiered fee), and then funds move from your platform balance into a specific card's limit; the latter is what we mean by topping up a card. Many people confuse the two, assuming they need to make another on-chain transfer, but you don't.
The 2% for topping up a card is identical in nature and rate to the limit service fee charged when opening a card. The only difference: opening a card creates a new card from scratch, so beyond the service fee there is also a one-time card issuance fee; when you top up an existing card, the card already exists, so you are charged only 2% — no issuance fee, no second-tier fee, and no monthly fee.
Funds pass through three stages, and each stage charges a different fee
| Stage | Money movement | Fee at this step | Time to credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top up platform balance | USDT enters your platform balance | Tiered: 2% for 30–500, 1.5% for 500–1000, 1% above 1000 | Instant, or 3–10 minutes on-chain |
| Open a card | Funds leave platform balance to create a new card limit | 2% limit service fee + $1–2 issuance fee per card | Usually a few seconds |
| Top up a card | Funds move from platform balance into an existing card limit | 2% limit service fee | Instant |
Worked example: adding $30 of limit to a card deducts $30.60 from your platform balance
- Suppose you want to add $30 of available limit to a card.
- The system charges a 2% service fee: $30 × 2% = $0.60.
- $30.60 is deducted from your platform balance in one go ($30 principal + $0.60 service fee).
- The card's limit increases by $30 instantly, your platform balance drops by $30.60, an accounting entry is recorded, and it is available for use on the spot.
A card's limit is a one-time total pool, and topping up a card simply adds to it
A card's limit is a one-time total pool, not a monthly limit that resets each month; every successful purchase is deducted from it, and once it is used up, it is gone. Topping up a card means adding money to this total pool, and the service fee is 2% of whatever limit you add. When the limit is nearly exhausted, or when a single payment is larger (an annual subscription, an advertising top-up, and the like), you can simply top up and keep using the card — there is no need to open a new card for that.
Key points for topping up a card: your platform balance must cover the principal plus 2%, and the internal transfer credits instantly
The money for topping up a card comes from your platform balance; it is an internal transfer within the platform, requiring no additional on-chain transfer, so no extra on-chain transfer fee is incurred. The prerequisite is that before the transfer your platform balance holds at least the 'principal + 2% service fee' ($30.60 in the example above); if it is not enough, top up your platform balance first — that step is the one that involves USDT and the tiered service fee. Because it is an internal transfer that follows standard double-entry accounting (an entry is recorded only when debits equal credits) and does not go through blockchain confirmation, topping up a card takes effect instantly, unlike topping up your platform balance, which has to wait for on-chain crediting; once the transfer is done, the new limit is reflected on the card details page and can be used immediately for your next purchase.