A bank card is the most familiar way to pay for anything online, and crypto is no exception. In Georgia it works with every major bank’s Visa or Mastercard, and with Apple Pay and Google Pay on several platforms. What varies a lot is the price. The same 1,000 GEL can cost you 20 GEL in fees at a local exchange, or more than 45 GEL on a global platform once your bank has converted the lari into dollars.
This page is about paying by card: which cards work, what each platform charges, the currency-conversion cost most people miss, 3-D Secure, and why cards get declined. If you’re still choosing between card, bank app, P2P and cash, start with the full guide to buying crypto in Georgia.
Which cards work: Georgian Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay
Cards from Bank of Georgia, TBC, Liberty and Credo are standard Visa or Mastercard debit cards, and that’s what crypto platforms accept. The difference is where you use them.
At a local exchange registered with the National Bank of GeorgiaNBGNational Bank of Georgia — the central bank. It supervises banks and, since 2023, crypto service providers (VASPs)., your card is charged in lari, so there’s no conversion. Cryptal (registration 0002-9404) lists Bank of Georgia, TBC and “other Georgian cards”, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay, all at 2%. On a global platform, your card is charged in US dollars, euros or pounds, and your bank converts from your lari balance.
Apple Pay and Google Pay are simply a card stored in your phone, so the same fees apply as for the card itself. They do save typing card numbers and often handle the bank confirmation step more smoothly. Kraken accepts them only if the Visa or Mastercard behind them is in the account holder’s own name.
Card fees compared
These are the fees each platform publishes for card payments. They don’t include the spreadSpreadThe gap between the buy and sell price. A desk that buys USDT at 2.57 GEL and sells at 2.62 GEL earns a 0.05 GEL spread on each coin. in the exchange rate, network fees for withdrawals or your bank’s own currency conversion.
| Platform | Card | Published card fee | Charged in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cryptal (NBG 0002-9404) | BoG, TBC, other Georgian; Apple/Google Pay | 2% | GEL |
| Cryptal | Card listed as Mere Card | 2.5% | GEL |
| Cryptal | International card | 2.5% | USD or EUR |
| WhiteBIT | Visa, Mastercard | 3.5% deposit | USD or EUR |
| Kraken | Debit card | 3.75% + $0.25 | USD |
| MoonPay | Card, Apple/Google Pay | Up to 4.5%, min. up to $3.99 | USD, EUR, others |
| CEX.IO | Visa, Mastercard, Apple/Google Pay | Included in the quoted price | USD, EUR or GBP |
CEX.IO doesn’t show a separate percentage: its help centre says the price of each purchase “includes the service commission”, and its fee table didn’t render for us, so compare the final coin amount against another quote. WhiteBIT lists no lari card option at all, but it does accept GEL bank deposits through TBC Bank and Hashbank with no fixed fee. Crypto.com’s card checkout for partner wallets, Pay On-ramp, doesn’t list Georgia among its supported regions.
The calculator at the top of this page lets you change the amount and the coin. The global-platform figures above are before your bank converts lari, which is the next cost.
The hidden cost: converting from lari
None of the global platforms we checked offers lari as a card currency. CEX.IO charges in USD, EUR or GBP, Kraken in USD, and MoonPay’s 33 buy currencies don’t include GEL. So when you pay with a lari card, your bank converts at its own card rate, which is usually a little worse than the NBG official rate. Whether your bank adds a separate fee for card payments in foreign currency depends on its tariff for your card, so check it before a large purchase.
If your card can debit a dollar or euro account, paying from that currency avoids one conversion; ask your bank how the card chooses which account to charge. Otherwise, a local exchange charging 2% in lari is often cheaper overall than a global platform with a lower headline fee.
Buying with a Georgian card, step by step
The steps are the same on a local exchange and on a global platform. Verification and the card check are what take time.
Enable online payments on your card
Open your bank app and check the card settings: internet payments on, foreign-currency payments on if you’ll use a global platform, and a daily online limit high enough for your purchase. Many declines happen right here.
Open and verify an account
Register at an NBG-registered exchange or a global platform and verify with your passport or Georgian ID card and a selfie. Use your name exactly as it appears on your card.
Add the card and pass 3-D Secure
Enter the card details or choose Apple Pay or Google Pay. Keep your phone at hand: your bank will ask you to approve the payment in its app or with an SMS code, and the request expires after a short time.
Buy and check the final amount
Enter the amount and look at how many coins you’ll receive after the card fee and conversion, not just the coin price. Confirm only when that number makes sense.
Withdraw to your own wallet
Send the coins to your wallet on the matching network, starting with a small test. Save the card receipt and the transaction ID together.
Global platforms: CEX.IO, Kraken and MoonPay
CEX.IO
CEX.IO has operated since 2013. Its US company holds state money-transmitter licences (NMLS 1804170), and its UK company is registered with the FCA as a cryptoasset business (FRN 1007192). That is an anti-money-laundering registration, not full FCA authorisation. It isn’t on the NBG register, and Georgia isn’t on its list of unsupported countries. CEX.IO doesn’t say which entity serves Georgian residents; customers outside the US, UK and EEA are generally served by its Nevis company, which lists no licence.
For card buyers the practical points are these. It takes Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay. The minimum card purchase is 20 USD, EUR or GBP. There’s no lari balance and no P2P. New accounts are capped at $1,000 a day and $3,000 a month for the first three months after ID verification, and the instant-buy limit rises once you verify your address. Verification includes the card itself, with a selfie holding it. Our CEX.IO review covers the rest.
Buying by Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay or Google Pay?Card minimum 20 USD, EUR or GBP; verification includes a card check.
Buy with a cardKraken
Kraken charges $0.25 + 3.75% for debit-card deposits in US dollars and doesn’t support lari. Card deposits come with a 72-hour withdrawal hold, so coins bought by card can’t leave the platform for three days. Instant buys in the Kraken app add 1–1.5% plus spread on top. Georgia isn’t on Kraken’s restricted list, but which funding methods appear for a Georgian resident is shown only inside the account.
MoonPay
MoonPay accepts Visa, Mastercard and Maestro cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay worldwide, at up to 4.5% with a minimum fee of up to $3.99. You’ll need ID, a selfie and proof of address less than three months old. MoonPay is also one of the few services that documents payouts to Georgian Visa cards when you sell, at 4.5%. That’s covered in cashing out crypto in Georgia.
Bybit, Binance and others
Bybit Georgia (0019-9404) is NBG-registered, and secondary sources say it takes GEL card deposits, Apple Pay and Google Pay; we couldn’t confirm the details on Bybit’s own pages. Binance added GEL card purchases for Georgian users in September 2022, but whether that still works, and at what fee, we couldn’t verify. The exchange comparison shows what each large platform offers.
3-D Secure, and why cards get declined
3-D Secure is the extra check your bank runs on online card payments: a push notification in your banking app or a one-time SMS code you type in. It protects you if your card details are stolen, and most crypto platforms require it. It’s also a common point of failure, because the request expires after a short time. Have your phone unlocked and your bank app logged in before you press “buy”.
When a card payment is declined, it’s almost always one of these:
- Online or foreign-currency payments are switched off in your bank app, or the daily internet limit is lower than the purchase.
- Not enough money after conversion and fees. A 1,000 GEL balance doesn’t cover a purchase quoted at the dollar equivalent of 1,000 GEL plus 3.75%.
- The 3-D Secure request timed out or was rejected in the app.
- The name doesn’t match. Platforms check that the card belongs to the verified account holder; a partner’s card or a company card will usually fail.
- Your bank’s risk system blocked it. Bank of Georgia, TBC, Liberty and Credo don’t publish policies on card payments to crypto platforms, so there’s no list of “allowed” merchants. A call to the bank usually clears it.
- The platform’s own limits. New-account caps, such as CEX.IO’s $1,000 a day, reject anything above them.
What your bank may ask
Paying for crypto with your own card is one of the less risky ways to buy, as far as banks are concerned: the money goes from your account to a known platform. It’s very different from P2P, where transfers from strangers can trigger reviews and, according to local reports, temporary account freezes. Even so, a large or unusual card payment can prompt a call from the bank.
Be ready to say what the payment was for and, for larger sums, where the money came from. Keep the platform’s receipt, your account statement and the transaction ID together. Our page on banks and crypto in Georgia covers how Georgian banks treat crypto-related payments, and the tax guide explains why good records also matter when you sell.
When a card isn’t the cheapest way to pay
A card is convenient, but rarely the cheapest option. At a registered local exchange, BOG Pay, TBC Pay and bank transfers cost nothing to deposit. WhiteBIT takes lari bank deposits from TBC Bank and Hashbank with no fixed fee. P2P in lari came in at about 0.5% above the NBG dollar rate in one test, though with more counterparty risk, as the P2P guide explains. Cash at PayBox terminals costs 1% at Cryptal, and buying with cash compares the options.
Where a card earns its fee is speed and simplicity, especially for a first small purchase, or for a newcomer whose Georgian bank account isn’t open yet but who has a foreign card. If you’re thinking about a card that spends crypto rather than buys it, that’s a different product: see crypto cards in Georgia. For everything else, the cryptogeorgia.guide home page maps the site.
