Krak Card

Verdict

The Krak Card is a Mastercard debit card that spends cash and crypto straight from your Krak Everyday account balance, anywhere Mastercard is accepted. It suits UK and EEA residents who already keep a meaningful balance across Krak, Kraken and Kraken Pro, want no monthly fee, and are comfortable spending from a custodial account rather than a bank one.

The headline is up to 2% cashback, but that top rate is gated behind a £50,000/€50,000 balance, so most people earn less. There are no annual or monthly fees and no FX markup, yet your money sits in a custodial e-money account, issued by Monavate, that is not covered by the FSCS. Judge it on the balance you will actually hold.

Rewards: the 2% needs a £50,000 balance

Cashback is up to 2%, but only at the top “Max” tier, which needs a £50,000/€50,000 minimum average 30-day balance. The full ladder: Starter £0/€0 earns 0%, Lite £200/€200 earns 0.5%, Pro £1,000/€1,000 earns 1%, Elite £10,000/€10,000 earns 1.5%, and Max £50,000/€50,000 earns 2%. Your balance is measured across Krak, Kraken and Kraken Pro, and your tier is reassessed every 30 days.

New Krak customers get a promotional welcome gift of Max Rewards — 2% cashback on eligible purchases plus a 1% salary match in eligible regions, with no opt-in. There are currently no monthly caps or earning limits. Cashback locks in when the merchant settles the transaction, not when you buy, and can be paid in GBP, EUR or BTC.

Not everything earns. Excluded are ATM withdrawals, refunds, reversals or cancelled transactions, chargebacks, transactions under £0.49/€0.49, and non-purchase transactions such as funding, money transfers and wire transfers.

Fees: no monthly charge, but watch the spread

Krak Card has no annual or monthly fees, no transaction fees and no hidden charges, and the virtual card is free to issue and hold. The catch is the spread: Krak builds a spread into the price when it sells the assets needed to complete each transaction, so conversions are not truly free. Monavate also charges $4.99 for a card replacement and may charge if you cancel within six months.

On foreign spend there is no FX fee — Krak passes on the Mastercard exchange rate with no markup. But your card is always set to your primary currency (GBP for UK, EUR for EU), and if you spend a held balance in a different currency, the conversion can trigger both a Krak conversion fee and Mastercard’s own FX fee. Krak lets you hold EUR, USD or GBP, so holding the local currency is not always a zero-cost path.

Custody: who holds your money

This is a custodial e-money account, not a bank account. Your money is safeguarded in separate, dedicated client money bank accounts, and the card spends from your Krak Everyday balance. The important caveat: the e-money in your account is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The card is issued by Monavate, authorised by the FCA (FRN 901097).

Availability and formats

Krak’s current eligibility statement lists individual clients located in the United Kingdom, EEA and the US. This review covers the EU/UK Mastercard version; the US is served by a separate Visa card. You need a verified Krak account first, after which the virtual card is issued instantly and can be added to Apple Pay and Google Pay. A physical card in coral or black is ordered separately and shipped. You can hold up to two virtual and two physical cards at once — standard reusable cards, not single-use burner cards.

Who it is for

Get it if you are a UK or EEA resident who already holds a large balance across Krak, Kraken and Kraken Pro, wants to spend crypto or cash on a no-monthly-fee Mastercard with no FX markup, and likes the option of cashback in BTC. The tiers reward size, so it pays off most for high balances.

Skip it if you want FSCS protection on your funds, if you will not hold enough to clear the lower tiers — 0.5% needs £200 and 2% needs £50,000 — or if you want a disposable single-use virtual card. And remember the spread: “no fees” does not mean conversions are free.