The card works anywhere Visa is accepted internationally, which Lava puts at 150+ countries and more than 150 million merchants. Applying and holding the card depends on user approval and the applicable terms. The international terms require the cardholder to attest they are not a United States citizen and that the card is intended for users outside the United States, while US users fall under a separate set of US terms, so eligibility differs between the two. Lava does not publish a country-by-country application list.
Key Profile Facts (Categorized)
Fee & Exchange Rate Structure
- Public Fee Summary
- No annual fee and no minimum spend. Foreign-currency transactions carry a 0% FX fee and a 0% cross-border fee, settled at Visa's official exchange rate with no spread claimed by Lava. The late fee is $0 and the returned-payment fee is up to $29, while ATM withdrawals cost 2% with a $1 minimum per withdrawal. The international terms took effect on 2026-05-21 with a 0% APR for purchases, and the issuer and Lava reserve the right to introduce interest on new purchases in future. Collateral borrowing is priced separately under the BLOC terms and is not part of the card fee schedule above.
- Debit / Deduction Model
- Secured credit card: charges are drawn only from the account's dollar balance with no unsecured credit line. Dollars come from stablecoin deposits, bank transfers, direct deposit, or borrowing against BTC through BLOC.
Application Eligibility & KYC
- KYC Identity Verification
- KYC required. The card terms require the cardholder to supply true and complete information and explicitly exclude individuals sanctioned or blocked by the United States. Account opening and card activation run through the Lava app application and compliance process. The terms publish neither a document checklist nor tiered KYC levels, so identity documents should be prepared according to the in-app requirements at approval time.
- Officially supported regions
- The card works anywhere Visa is accepted internationally, which Lava puts at 150+ countries and more than 150 million merchants. Applying and holding the card depends on user approval and the applicable terms. The international terms require the cardholder to attest they are not a United States citizen and that the card is intended for users outside the United States, while US users fall under a separate set of US terms, so eligibility differs between the two. Lava does not publish a country-by-country application list.
Payment Compatibility & Issuer Rails
- Card Network & Rails
- Visa; the official product page shows a Visa Infinite card face, and the terms state the card program is issued by the issuer under licence from Visa
- Issuer Arrangement / Payment Rails
- The issuer's name is printed on the back of the card; the official terms do not publish its legal name on the web page. The card BIN is not publicly disclosed and this page does not speculate on it.
- Apple Pay / Google Pay
- The official product page, FAQ and card terms reviewed here do not mention Apple Pay, so it cannot be treated as supported.
- Overseas AI Subscriptions
- The official material does not separately describe reward or risk treatment for AI subscription merchants; the card is recorded as standard Visa acceptance.
Spending Rewards & Cardholder Perks
- Cashback & Reward Rules
- Eligible spending earns bitcoin back: all users get 5% at Lava merchant partners, while other eligible purchases depend on where the user is based, at 3% for US users and 1% for users outside the United States. Rewards are credited as soon as a transaction settles and accumulate visibly in the Lava app. Fines, tax payments, insurance, real-estate rental agents, elementary and secondary schools, and education services do not earn rewards.
This is a summary of the cited public information, not a complete list of fees or regions and not a guarantee of approval or card access.
Issuing, mobile wallets and AI subscriptions
- Card network listed in the comparison source
- Visa
- Issuer arrangement / BIN
- The issuer's name is printed on the back of the card; the official terms do not publish its legal name on the web page. The card BIN is not publicly disclosed and this page does not speculate on it.
- Apple Pay
- — Not specified by official sources: the official product page, FAQ and card terms reviewed here do not mention Apple Pay, so it cannot be treated as supported.
- Google Pay
- — Not specified by official sources: none of the official material reviewed here mentions Google Pay, so it cannot be treated as supported.
- AI subscriptions such as ChatGPT and Claude
- — Not specified by official sources: the official material does not separately describe reward or risk treatment for AI subscription merchants; the card is recorded as standard Visa acceptance.
Compatibility information for this card was verified on 2026-10-12 against the sources listed on the card profile; undisclosed items are marked "Not stated officially". Status symbols preserve source statements; "Not stated officially" does not mean unsupported, and community reports do not guarantee stable availability.
View full comparison of 125 cards · Use BIN & Issuer Inspector
Mobile Apps & Privacy Compliance
Independent verification of mobile client presence, global app store availability, privacy disclosures, and account deletion / data erasure rights.Mobile Clients & Official Download Channels
- Client App
- Lava: Bitcoin Finance(Lava Global Inc.)
- Web Portal Support
- Full Web Portal (Cards Supported) — The app.lava.xyz web portal shares one codebase with the app (Expo Web) and includes the card pages; Lava says the Lava Card can be applied for on the web or in the app.
- Apple App Store
-
App Store Official Download ↗ Mainland China not included; missing key markets: Macau, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Nigeria
- Google Play
-
▶ Google Play Official Download ↗ All 174 storefronts (Google Play does not operate in mainland China)
Data Compliance, Privacy Labels & Account Erasure
- Regulations & Rights
-
No Explicit Data Rights Clauses Found
The Lava Global Inc. privacy policy is a generic template: it claims that no personal data is collected or stored, lists no access / correction / deletion rights and contains no GDPR or CCPA clauses. The terms of service are governed by Cayman Islands law and require consent to the Bridge (a Stripe company) privacy policy for the United States, the EEA and other regions. Card accounts additionally fall under the issuer Third National's GLBA privacy notice, which allows some sharing to be restricted and includes California, Vermont, Nevada and North Dakota clauses, plus the Rain privacy policy, which grants access, deletion and correction rights under GDPR, UK GDPR and US state law.
- Official Privacy Policy
- Official Privacy Policy ↗
- Data Retention
- Not stated in Lava's policy; issuer Rain: identity and transaction records are kept for more than 5 years after account closure
- App Store Privacy Label
- No tracking data; Linked to you: 0 categories; Not linked to you: 4 categories
- Google Play Data Safety
- No third-party data sharing; Collects 2 categories; Deletion can be requested; Data encrypted in transit
- Account Deletion Flow
-
App / web: Settings → Advanced → Delete Account, which opens the Google Form "Lava Account Deletion" to submit a request (the form is described as meeting Google's requirements). Deletion is not immediate. Google Play states that deletion can be requested.
Verified on 2026-10-12. App store availability and privacy disclosures are independently verified from official developer stores and privacy policies; store availability may vary dynamically by region.
"No FX fee" is not the same as "no currency cost"
Lava says foreign-currency transactions settle at Visa's official exchange rate with no spread added, and the terms list a 0% FX fee and a 0% cross-border fee. That anchors the final rate to the network's conversion baseline; it does not mean cross-currency spending carries no currency difference at all. [6] [9]
A secured credit card does not mean there is nothing to repay
The card can only spend dollars already on the account, but dollars borrowed through BLOC still have to be repaid under the borrowing terms, and a liquidation event is triggered once the collateral value falls below the outstanding amount. Read the repayment and liquidation rules together before using the card. [2] [9]
Mexican pesos and euros added as deposit channels
On 2026-10-09 Lava said Mexican pesos can be deposited over SPEI, with the pesos converted into the dollar balance at no transfer fee, and that EEA users can send euros over SEPA. These are deposit channels and do not mean residents of those places can all apply for the card. [11]
Frequently asked questions
Is the Lava Card a credit card or a debit card?
Lava describes it as a secured credit card: charges come straight from the account's dollar balance, only dollars already deposited can be spent, and no unsecured credit is offered.
Does the Lava Card have an annual fee or an FX fee?
There is no annual fee and no minimum spend; foreign-currency transactions carry a 0% FX fee and a 0% cross-border fee, settled at Visa's official exchange rate with no spread added.
How much cashback does the Lava Card pay?
Spending at merchant partners earns 5% back in bitcoin; other eligible purchases earn 3% for US users and 1% for users outside the United States, credited when the transaction settles.
Lava Card: Is identity verification required?
The Lava app application and compliance process applies. The terms require the information provided to be true and complete and exclude sanctioned individuals, but no document checklist is published, so it cannot be treated as no-KYC.
Can users in mainland China apply?
Lava does not publish a country-by-country application list, and the international terms require the cardholder to attest they are not a US citizen. Eligibility for users in mainland China has to come from the actual in-app application outcome; this site does not speculate.
📜 Rules & Fee Changelog History
Continuous Tracking · Historical Evidence BaseCommunity posts
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No public post has yet met our criteria for specific experience details and an accessible original link. You can browse public discussion of Lava Card on X; search results may change over time.
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