Short answer: On our standard traveller profile, ether.fi Cash keeps $54.95 a month for a US resident (free Core plan, #3 of 13), $39.03 in Germany, France, Spain and Italy (Luxe, #3 of 19) and $23.90 in the UK and the UAE (Core, #4 of 16). Its edge is 0% FX on dollars and euros. Its cashback is paid in ETHFI, a token whose price moves.
ether.fi Cash is a Visa card issued by Third National in the US, with the programme run via Rain. It is self-custodial: you spend from your own self-custody vault rather than from a balance the issuer holds. It is offered in 90 countries. Figures are from the cards.json build of 25 October 2026.
One disclosure before the numbers. Cashbackpacker is run by Pelikan, and Pelikan's own card, Pelikan × ether.fi, is an ether.fi Cash Visa card with a Pelikan travel layer. One formula ranks both.
What does ether.fi Cash cost and what does it pay?
Four plans, one reward cap of $1,000 a month on all of them.
| Plan | Cost | Cashback a month | Abroad, non-USD/EUR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | Free | 3% on the first $2,000, 1% on the next $1,000, 0.5% above | 1.5% + Visa rate |
| Luxe | $199 a year | 3% on the first $10,000, 1% on the next $10,000, 0.5% above | 1.25% + Visa rate |
| Pinnacle | $999 a year | 3% on the first $50,000, 1% on the next $30,000, 0.5% above | 1% + Visa rate |
| VIP | 500,000 ETHFI locked | 4% on the first $50,000, 0.5% above | 1% + Visa rate |
The Visa rate adds about 0.3%. Dollars and euros carry no fee on any plan. Luxe and Pinnacle can also be reached by staking ETHFI: 30,000 tokens for Luxe and 150,000 for Pinnacle, about $20,500 and $102,000 at $0.68 a token. Our calculator charges locked tokens at 15% a year, and in every market where it picks Luxe it picks the $199 fee instead of the stake.
How much does ether.fi Cash keep where you live?
Standard profile: about $1,992 a month through the card, including four trips and six flights a year. Cash only, US dollars a month.
| Where you live | Rank | Plan | Kept a month | Real rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | #3 of 13 | Core | $54.95 | 2.76% |
| Germany, France, Spain, Italy | #3 of 19 | Luxe | $39.03 | 1.96% |
| United Kingdom | #4 of 16 | Core | $23.90 | 1.20% |
| United Arab Emirates | #4 of 16 | Core | $23.90 | 1.20% |
| Netherlands | not ranked | — | — | — |
The advertised top rate is 4.0%, and that needs the VIP lock. Tria Card (Max) is first in all 12 countries we rank. To test your own spending, open the travel cashback calculator and set your country of residence.
Why does your home currency change the result so much?
ether.fi settles dollars and euros at 0%. Pounds and dirhams pay the abroad cost on every purchase, at home too.
- US resident. Only the trip spending pays FX. Core earns $59.75 and loses $4.80 to FX: $54.95 (our arithmetic).
- UK or UAE resident. All $1,992 pays 1.8% on Core. The same $59.75 loses $35.85: $23.90 (our arithmetic).
- Euro-area resident. Luxe earns $59.75, pays $16.58 of plan fee and $4.13 of FX on trips only: $39.03.
Luxe wins in the euro area because Core pays 3% on only about the first $800 a month of euro spending. The calculator charges 1.8% abroad on Core and 1.55% on Luxe. A sample of 73 non-dollar purchases measured 1.32%.
Core or Luxe: when does the $199 fee pay back?
Our arithmetic on the published bands, outside the euro area:
- Dollar home. Luxe overtakes Core at about $2,800 of total card spending a month.
- Pound or dirham home. Luxe overtakes Core at about $2,500 a month. At $4,000 the gap is wide: Luxe keeps $41.42, Core about $3.00.
- Euro home. We do not compute a single crossover, because only part of Core's euro ladder is published. On the standard profile Luxe already wins. On a light profile of about $950 a month, the free Core plan keeps $24.02.
These figures ignore ETHFI price moves.
How does it compare with Tria Card and Pelikan × ether.fi?
Tria Card (Max) keeps more on the standard profile everywhere. The picture flips with spending. For a euro resident, ether.fi Luxe overtakes Tria Max near $2,550 a month. With pounds or dirhams the point is about $4,000, and with dollars about $4,750 (our arithmetic). At $4,000 a month of frequent travel, ether.fi Luxe keeps $72.92 in Germany against Tria's $68.17, while in the UK Tria stays ahead. Tria pays its cashback in USDT; see the Tria Card review.
Pelikan × ether.fi keeps $6.75 a month more than ether.fi Cash in the UK and the euro area. That whole gap is Pelikan's extra 3% on flights booked with Pelikan. The engine labels it "illustrative until the partner schedule is countersigned", capped at $500 a year. Book your flights elsewhere and the two cards keep the same amount. It is not available in the US, the UAE or the Netherlands.
What are the risks with ether.fi Cash?
- Token rewards. Cashback is now paid in ETHFI rather than the USDC it used to credit. Its dollar value can fall.
- Rate cliff. Cashback drops sharply above the 3% band, to 1% and then 0.5%. See what caps do in a big travel month.
- Not a deposit. Crypto cards are not bank deposits, so the money behind the card is not covered by deposit insurance.
- No Curve. Curve Pay cannot add it, because the Visa card is issued in the US.
On X, 6 of 9 public posts from 25 August to 25 October 2026 were positive. Complaints named geo restrictions, tiered rewards and weak ATM limits. A sample, not a poll.
Who is ether.fi Cash a good fit for?
- US residents under about $2,800 a month: Core, free, third behind Tria and Lava.
- Euro-area residents: Luxe, third on our standard profile, which passes Tria Max near $2,550 a month.
- UK and UAE residents: Core on typical spending. Luxe only above about $2,500, and Tria keeps more up to about $4,000.
The ether.fi Cash card page has its rank in all 12 countries.
FAQ
Is the ether.fi Cash card worth it? On our standard profile it ranks third in the US ($54.95 a month), third in Germany, France, Spain and Italy ($39.03) and fourth in the UK and the UAE ($23.90), as of the 25 October 2026 data.
Does ether.fi Cash charge foreign transaction fees? Not on US dollars or euros. Other currencies cost 1.5% on Core, 1.25% on Luxe and 1% on Pinnacle, plus about 0.3% Visa rate.
Should I pay for ether.fi Luxe? In the euro area, on our standard profile, Luxe keeps $8.54 a month more than Core. Elsewhere it pays back only above about $2,500 to $2,800 a month (our arithmetic).
What currency is ether.fi cashback paid in? ETHFI, a token whose price moves. It previously paid USDC.
Rankings use one formula for every card, including ours; no card can pay for a place. Cashbackpacker is run by Pelikan, which also offers the Pelikan × ether.fi card. General information, not financial advice. Crypto cards are not bank deposits; rewards, fees and availability change.
Related guides
- Tria Card review (2026): 6% advertised, what you keep
- Cashback card monthly caps: what you keep in a big travel month
- Best cashback card for digital nomads (2026): home currency picks the winner
- Best free cashback card for travel (2026): no annual fee, ranked by where you live
- Crypto card vs credit card for travel: FX, rewards and risks compared
