Avici Platinum Card Review 2026

Avici Platinum Card Review

The Avici Platinum Card is a self-custodial secured Visa credit card that lets users deposit USDC into a loan escrow smart contract and receive equivalent USD credit for spending at merchants worldwide.

The Entry-Level Self-Custodial Credit Card

The Avici Platinum Card is the base tier of Avici's secured credit card program. It provides the full self-custodial experience - your USDC stays in a smart contract you control until the moment of purchase - without any annual fees. For users who want to spend crypto without surrendering custody to an exchange, the Platinum delivers the core value proposition at the lowest possible cost.

Spending and Mechanics: Secured Credit via Loan Escrow

This is not a debit card. It is a secured credit card issued by Rain on the Visa network. The funding mechanism:

1. Deposit USDC into your loan escrow smart contract (any of 12 supported chains)
2. Avici creates equivalent USD credit on your card
3. Spend at any of 100M+ Visa merchants worldwide
4. Within 1-7 days, spent USDC is liquidated to settle with Visa

You can also top up by swapping any ERC-20 or SPL token directly to your card balance via the Relay Protocol integration. Minimum top-up is $1. Processing takes 2-7 minutes.

• Network: Visa international credit card
• Card Types: Virtual (instant) and physical (polyvinyl plastic, 3-4 weeks standard delivery)
• Wallet Pay: Apple Pay and Google Pay supported (add via card details + OTP)
• Chains: Ethereum, Polygon, OP Mainnet, Base, Arbitrum One, Avalanche, BNB Chain, Monad, Mantle, Abstract, Scroll, and Solana
• Assets: USDC native, any ERC-20/SPL token via auto-swap

Fee Analysis: Near-Zero Running Costs

The Platinum tier keeps ongoing costs to near zero:

Priority shipping: $15 tracked (US, 1-2 weeks), $50 tracked (international, 1-2 weeks). Standard shipping is free but untracked (3-4 weeks).

ROI Analysis: Sovereignty as the Value Proposition

The Platinum offers zero cashback and zero rewards. The ROI case rests entirely on what you avoid:

• No custody risk: Your USDC is in a contract only you control. No exchange bankruptcy exposure.
• No FX markup: On $2,000/month international spend, a typical 2% FX fee on other cards costs $40/month. Avici saves $480/year (though Visa's 0.4-1% cross-border fee still applies).
• No annual fee: Unlike the Signature tier ($30/year) or exchange cards requiring token stakes.

For a user spending $1,000/month domestically with no ATM usage, the total annual cost is $0 (excluding the one-time card purchase). That makes Platinum one of the cheapest crypto card options available.

Limits

The Platinum has no daily or monthly transaction limits on spending. ATM access is limited:

• ATM daily withdrawal: $250
• ATM transactions per day: 3
• Spending limits: No caps (customizable per card in settings)

Refunds process within 5 business days. Important: refunds sent to the card cannot be withdrawn to wallet - they can only be spent.

Security: ZeroDev Smart Wallet

The Avici wallet uses ZeroDev smart contract technology with social login (Google/iCloud) and mandatory biometric passkeys. Every transaction requires passkey approval. Security features include:

• Card freeze/unfreeze in-app
• Per-card spending limits
• PIN management
• Real-time transaction alerts
• Self-custodial loan escrow - neither Rain, Avici, nor Visa controls your funds

Verdict

The Avici Platinum is the lowest-cost self-custodial spending card available outside Europe. Zero annual fee, zero FX markup, and genuine non-custodial security via loan escrow. The trade-off is stark: no rewards whatsoever. If you earn cashback elsewhere (staking, DeFi) and just need a clean, sovereign off-ramp for USDC, this is it. If you use ATMs regularly, upgrade to Signature to eliminate the $1 + 0.65% ATM fee.

Fees and break-even math

Annual fee: $0. FX markup: 0% (Visa may charge 0.4-1% cross-border). ATM: $1 + 0.65% per withdrawal. On $1,000/month domestic spend: $0/year total cost. On $1,000/month international spend: $48-$120/year from Visa cross-border fees only. ATM cost at max daily withdrawal ($250): $2.63 per transaction. Three daily withdrawals: $7.88. If you withdraw twice monthly, that is $94/year in ATM fees - enough to justify the Signature upgrade at $30/year. All fees sourced from Avici Fees and Limits.

Competitor comparison

Closest alternatives: Gnosis Pay Card offers 1-4% cashback with self-custody but is EEA-only and limited to Gnosis Chain. MetaMask Virtual Card offers 1% cashback on Linea but supports only one chain. Avici Platinum beats both on chain breadth (12 chains) and fee simplicity, but loses on rewards. For custodial alternatives with rewards, Coinbase Card offers crypto rewards in the US.

Sources

• Avici Fees and Limits
• Secured Credit Cards Overview
• Spending and Transactions
• Virtual and Physical Cards