ZEN Card review: fees, cashback and limits

A European money account with cheap FX, crypto top-ups and merchant cashback.

By Taimoor, founder and editor Last checked 17 October 2026 4 sources

4.8out of 10

Visit ZEN

Quick answer

ZEN is a Lithuanian e-money account with a Mastercard or Visa card. You can top up with USDT, BTC, ETH or USDC, which converts to euros for a 0.5% fee. The Free plan costs nothing and adds 0.5% on foreign currency (plus 0.4% at weekends); Gold costs €0.90 a month and cuts that to 0.2%, and Platinum (€6.90) removes it. ATM cash costs 1.5% on Free. Cashback comes from merchant offers in the app, not a flat rate.

ZEN at a glance

Best for	Europeans who want a cheap travel card they can top up with crypto.
Skip it if	You want to hold crypto in the card account or earn a flat cashback rate.
Network	Mastercard or Visa
Card issuer	UAB ZEN.COM (e-money institution supervised by the Bank of Lithuania)
Custody	Custodial e-money account. Crypto is converted to euros when you top up.
Card type	Prepaid debit
Virtual or physical	Virtual and physical
Cashback	Merchant offers in the app
Annual fee	Free €0. Gold €0.90 a month. Platinum €6.90 a month.
Apple Pay / Google Pay	Yes / Yes
Identity check (KYC)	Required
Where it works	Mainly the EEA. ZEN publishes its full list of countries for personal accounts and card delivery in its help centre.

ZEN fees

Card cost	Free plan: first virtual card free, physical card €10. Gold: first physical card free. Platinum: up to 2 physical and 3 virtual free.
Annual or membership fee	Free €0. Gold €0.90 a month. Platinum €6.90 a month.
FX and cross-border	Free 0.5%, Gold 0.2%, Platinum 0% over the Mastercard rate. 0.4% extra at weekends on Free, Gold and Platinum.
Crypto conversion	Top-up in digital currency: 0.5% (USDT, BTC, ETH, USDC converted to EUR)
ATM withdrawals	Free plan 1.5%. Gold free up to €200 a month, Platinum up to €800, then 1.5%.
Other fees	Top-up by debit or credit card: from 0.5% up to 4.5% on Free, depending on the card
	Dormant account fee: 1% a month (minimum €10) on closed accounts with a balance

Visa and Mastercard apply their own exchange rates on top of any card markup. Check the fee page in the ZEN app for your country before you load money. To see what ZEN would cost you in a year compared with every other card, try the cost calculator.

What a $100 purchase costs with ZEN

$0.50Paid from stablecoins in the card's own currency

$1.00Paid from stablecoins in a foreign currency

$0.50Paid from other crypto, like BTC or ETH

$0Cashback on $100, Free tier

These are ZEN's own fees on the Free tier, before the card network's exchange rate and any ATM or top-up costs. Its FX markup of 0.5% is lower than the median of 1% across the 60 cards we track with a published FX fee, and cheaper than 35 of them. For a full year based on your own spending, use the cost calculator.

Where it ranks by our score: #34 of 36 in Europe (EEA)

Cashback and rewards

No flat cashback rate. ZEN shows partner offers in the app, with rates that change by merchant and country.
The Free plan gets 50% of each offer's rate. Gold and Platinum get the full rate.
Capped at €250 a day per partner

Tier	Price or requirement	Cashback	Notes
Free	€0	50% of merchant offers	0.5% FX, 1.5% ATM, physical card €10
Gold	€0.90/month	Full merchant offers	0.2% FX, €200 free ATM a month, first physical card free
Platinum	€6.90/month	Full merchant offers	0% FX, €800 free ATM a month

Deposits and withdrawals

How to top up

Crypto: USDT, BTC, ETH and USDC, converted to EUR
SEPA bank transfer
Debit or credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and local methods such as Bizum, BLIK and Multibanco

Fees: Crypto 0.5%. Card top-ups from 0.5% on Free. Local methods vary.

How to withdraw

SEPA and SWIFT bank transfers
ATM cash

Fees: ATM 1.5% on Free. SWIFT from 0.1% plus €3.

Supported assets: EUR, PLN, GBP, USD and other fiat balances. USDT, BTC, ETH and USDC for top-ups only.

Where ZEN works

Mainly the EEA. ZEN publishes its full list of countries for personal accounts and card delivery in its help centre.

The US and most countries outside Europe.

Europe (EEA)

Limits and perks

Limits

Card purchases: €10,000 a day by default, up to €30,000
ATM: €2,000 a day by default

Perks

Extended warranty on eligible purchases
Multi-currency accounts

Pros and cons

What's good

0% to 0.5% FX by plan
Crypto top-ups for 0.5%
Cheap Gold plan at €0.90 a month

What's not

Weekend FX surcharge of 0.4%
No flat cashback
Can't hold crypto in the account
Custodial e-money, not a bank

Our take on ZEN

ZEN is a payments company from Lithuania whose app gives you multi-currency accounts and a Mastercard or Visa. It isn't a crypto wallet: when you top up with USDT, BTC, ETH or USDC, ZEN converts it to euros for a 0.5% fee, and the card spends euros from then on. That makes it a neat way to turn stablecoins into a cheap European travel card.

FX is the strong point. The Free plan adds 0.5% to the Mastercard rate on foreign currency, Gold (€0.90 a month) adds 0.2%, and Platinum (€6.90) adds nothing, though every plan pays an extra 0.4% at weekends. Gold is the sweet spot for most people: it also includes your first physical card and €200 of free ATM cash a month.

There's no flat cashback. Instead, ZEN shows merchant offers in the app, and Free users get half the advertised rate.

A good low-FX travel card for Europe that you can fund with stablecoins. Pay for Gold rather than using Free.

How we scored ZEN: 4.8/10

Methodology

Fees 30%

7 0% to 0.5% FX and 0.5% crypto top-ups, plus a weekend surcharge.

Rewards 20%

3 Merchant offers only.

Control 20%

3 Custodial e-money account.

Reach 15%

4 Mainly the EEA.

Flexibility 15%

6 Crypto top-ups, SEPA, SWIFT and many local payment methods.

ZEN FAQ

Can I top up ZEN with crypto?

Yes. You can send USDT, BTC, ETH or USDC, and ZEN converts it to euros for a 0.5% fee. The card then spends euros.

What FX fee does the ZEN card charge?

0.5% on the Free plan, 0.2% on Gold and 0% on Platinum over the Mastercard rate, plus 0.4% at weekends.

What are ZEN's ATM fees?

1.5% on Free. Gold includes €200 a month free and Platinum €800, then 1.5%.

Sources

ZEN individual pricing (effective May 26, 2026)Plan prices, FX, card, ATM and top-up fees
ZEN payment cardsCard types
ZEN: account top-upsTop-up methods
cryptocard.guide: ZEN CardCashback model and limits, checked Oct 7, 2026

We checked these sources on 17 October 2026. Fees and rewards change often. Spotted something out of date? Report a correction and we'll check it within two working days.