7.5/ 10

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Nº 7 Paused: not taking orders

Ready Card review

A flat 3%, 0% FX and generous free ATM withdrawals — the simplest honest deal in the self-custody category. The catch: you can't order one right now.

At €1,500/month with 10% foreign-currency spending, Ready Card is worth +€432 a year after fees — Nº 2 of 11 in our calculator. Try your own numbers.
Cashback3% flat (Metal)
Paid inUSDC
Annual fee$120 Metal
ATM$800/mo free

Ready is not issuing new cards. Its help centre says cards are "not available to order" while it moves to a new card partner, with no launch date and no waiting list. Existing cardholders will need a new Ready account and to move their funds before ordering the new card. The wallet itself keeps working. What follows describes the Metal programme as it ran until the pause.

Ready is a self-custodial Mastercard built on Starknet: your USDC lives in your own smart-contract wallet until you spend. The Metal tier's pitch is refreshingly simple — flat 3% in USDC, no tiers, no token to hold, 0% FX. At about $333/month of spending the $120 annual fee pays for itself; everything above that is pure margin.

Licensing: Argent Labs Limited, the London company behind Ready, states in its terms that it is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority or any other regulator, and that assets in the Ready app are not covered by any compensation scheme. The card was issued by a third-party issuer under separate terms, and that issuer relationship is what Ready is now replacing.

What works

  • Flat 3% in a stablecoin — no caps gymnastics, no token risk
  • 0% FX plus $800/month free ATM: excellent travel card
  • Self-custodial smart wallet with strong app ratings

What doesn't

  • $120/year fee — light spenders lose money on it
  • USDC-centric; not for spending BTC or ETH directly
  • Starknet is less familiar territory for some users
  • No new cards anywhere until the new issuer launches — no date given
Watch outReady is replacing its card issuer and has stopped issuing physical and virtual cards altogether. Service outside the EEA was already halted with pro-rata subscription refunds. Until orders reopen, Bleap is the closest self-custody alternative with 0% FX. Separately, below ~$4,000 of annual spend the Metal fee outweighs the cashback edge over free 1% cards.

Who it's for: stablecoin-first spenders and frequent travellers who want one flat rate and zero FX drama — once Ready reopens orders. Until then, look at Bleap.

Sources

Figures on this page come from the issuer’s own pages, checked on September 25, 2026:

Visit Ready

Questions

Ready questions

Which countries can get the Ready Card?
Ready Card: No new cards · issuer switch. Of the countries we track, it is not available in Romania, Hungary, Netherlands, Finland, Estonia, Ireland, Croatia, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom. Check the issuer’s current country list before applying.
Does the Ready Card charge foreign exchange fees?
Ready charges 0% FX, which makes it one of the strongest cards for spending in non-euro currencies.
Is the Ready Card custodial or self-custodial?
Ready Card is self-custodial: your funds stay in a wallet you control until the moment you pay.
How much cashback does the Ready Card really pay?
Ready Card pays 3% flat (Metal), credited in USDC. For someone spending €1,500 a month with 10% in foreign currencies, our calculator puts its net value at €432 a year after fees, ranking Nº 2 of 11.

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