Bybit Card fees and limits explained: What to expect when you spend crypto

Bybit Card is a Mastercard debit card available in both virtual and physical formats that lets you spend your crypto holdings just like cash at over 90 million merchants globally. It acts as a bridge between your crypto funds and everyday spending in the worldwide retail ecosystem, which is often based on fiat.

Your Bybit Card's balance can be funded using fiat money as well as eight popular cryptocurrencies, including the major stablecoins. The fees and limits applicable to the card vary depending upon the currency used, transaction type, region and other factors. 

In this article, we’ll explain how applicable fees for Bybit Card transactions are calculated. The goal of the article isn’t to list all relevant rates and limits, but rather to give you (as a Bybit Card user) a clear idea of how transaction fees are calculated. Please note that examples we use below are for illustrative purposes, and that regional differences in fees will apply.

Key Takeaways:

• Bybit Card features fees, spending limits and ATM withdrawal limits that may vary based on your region, base currency, transaction type and, for some regions, customer tier.

• The three most common fee types include foreign exchange conversion fees, crypto conversion fees and ATM withdrawal charges.

How Bybit Card transactions are funded

The balance of your Bybit Card is linked to the funds available in your Funding Account. As you spend money online, shop at physical retail outlets or withdraw cash from ATMs, you’re essentially spending from the balance of your Bybit Funding Account. 

If you make a purchase using your card, and have the requisite fiat funds available in your Funding Account, you won’t be charged any conversion fees. An example would be buying a USD-priced item online with sufficient USD in your account. However, if your balance is in a supported crypto asset — for instance, Tether (USDT) — the system will apply an automatic conversion of these funds to fiat, and you’ll pay a conversion fee of 0.9% in addition to Bybit’s One-Click Sell exchange rate.

In some cases, there might be multiple fees to pay. For instance, if you withdraw fiat from an ATM and have only cryptocurrency in your Funding Account, you’ll incur conversion charges as demonstrated above, plus an ATM withdrawal fee of 2%.

Understanding Bybit Card fees (FX, crypto conversion, and ATM withdrawals)

You may incur fees when using your Bybit Card in one of three common ways: 

1. When you spend in a fiat currency different from the one held in your Funding Account, you’ll be charged a foreign exchange conversion fee. For instance, you’ll pay the fee when making a purchase in EUR while your card is being funded with USD. 

2. When you spend in fiat, but pay with crypto. In this case, there will be a crypto conversion fee (as described above).

3. When you make a cash withdrawal at an ATM, a withdrawal fee will be applicable to your physical Bybit Card. This fee applies after you’ve exhausted your monthly fee-free ATM withdrawal allowance. The allowance is usually $100 for USD-denominated cards. Please note that ATM operators may also charge their own withdrawal fees in addition to Bybit’s.

Note also that many transactions involve multiple fee or rate types to consider. For instance, when paying in a different fiat currency from your card's base asset, the conversion will be completed using Mastercard's rate, and you’ll also pay a Bybit markup fee. For many fiat currencies, this fee is 0.5% of the transaction amount.

Cardholders in Brazil and Argentina must also take into account FX padding. FX padding is a temporary buffer portion of the transaction amount — set at 5% for Argentina, and 3% for Brazil — that Bybit freezes during authorization. This is done in order to protect against exchange rate fluctuations until the merchant finalizes the payment. Once settlement occurs, usually a few days later, the transaction is processed at the final exchange rate, and the remaining frozen padding is automatically released back to your balance.

How fees are calculated in real transactions

Let’s consider some real-world examples to see how these fees work together.

Paying in a foreign currency

Let’s say you have a USD-denominated card and buy a meal in London for £100. Bybit first determines the equivalent value in dollars using the applicable Mastercard exchange rate, which is (for example) $126. A 2% foreign exchange fee of $2.52 is then added to that amount. Your account is charged a total of $128.52 for the transaction.

Paying with crypto

If you have a zero fiat balance, and buy a $100 jacket using USDT, Bybit must convert your crypto into fiat to settle the transaction. The system will use the current market rate to determine how much USDT equals $100, and will add a 0.9% crypto conversion fee of $0.90. You’ll see a total of $100.90 worth of USDT deducted from your Funding Account.

Withdrawing cash at an ATM

If you have a USD-denominated card, and have already withdrawn at least $100 in cash earlier this month, a 2% fee applies to any additional withdrawals. When you go to an ATM to withdraw another $100, Bybit charges you a $2 fee for exceeding your free monthly limit. You’ll see a total deduction of $102 from your fiat balance for that $100 cash withdrawal. It's likely that the ATM operator will also add their own withdrawal charges. Therefore, you may see more than $102 deducted in total.

Withdrawing cash when only crypto is available in your balance

If you have no fiat currency available, and have already used your monthly $100 free withdrawal limit, withdrawing $100 in cash from an ATM triggers two separate fees. Bybit first sells $100 worth of your crypto, plus a 0.9% conversion fee of $0.90 to create the necessary fiat. Then, the 2% ATM withdrawal fee of $2.00 is added, resulting in a total cost of $102.90 worth of crypto in order to receive your $100 in cash.

Seeing fees, limits and transactions in practice

Your card’s spending power comprises the total value of your fiat balance plus your enabled crypto assets (up to three selected cryptocurrencies) in your Funding Account, converted to your card's base currency. If your fiat balance is empty, Bybit automatically converts your crypto in order to cover purchases in real time.

Virtual and physical cards share a single spending limit, but only the physical card has an ATM withdrawal quota.

To view your Bybit Card transaction history, visit your card’s dashboard page. Reviewing your transaction history can help you understand the details of fees charged, crypto conversions completed and pending authorizations currently in the system.

Spending and withdrawal limits: What caps apply and why

As noted earlier, spending limits are shared across your virtual and physical cards. One exception is that of Australian cards, which have separate limits for the virtual and physical card. Another exception is the Bybit Virtual Card Lite, which features a fixed lifetime spending limit of 150 EUR. 

There are also per-transaction, daily, monthly and annual spending limits that vary by region, as shown in the table below.

Spending limits vary by region, due to factors such as local financial regulations, licensing requirements and anti-money laundering (AML) laws specific to each jurisdiction.

Brazilian cards with the QR Pay feature have distinct limits, as shown in the table below.

Users in China should note that ATM withdrawals in that country are restricted.

Card tiers and limit upgrades

When it comes to spending limits, there are two distinct types to keep in mind: 

• The overall spending limit is the amount you can spend over the relevant period (e.g., daily or monthly) with your card across all transaction types. 

• The ATM withdrawal limit specifies how much you can withdraw in cash from ATMs over a specified period. This limit is part of your overall spending limit.

Cardholders in two regions — Asia-Pacific (APAC), and the European Economic Area (EEA) & Switzerland — have spending limits and ATM withdrawal limits based on a tiered system. The tables below show these limits for the Asia-Pacific region.

Spending limits

ATM withdrawal limits

Note: In the above table, Tier 1 shows no withdrawal limits, because this tier only includes virtual cards.

Your Bybit Card tier is determined by your VIP grade and your monthly spending amounts at the time you apply. You can check to see if you’re eligible for a tier upgrade via your card’s dashboard page. If you’ve applied for an upgrade, you should receive a message from Bybit within seven days.

Key things to know before using your Bybit Card

Before you start using your Bybit Card, ensure that you’re familiar with all of the main applicable fees, and plan your transactions carefully in order to avoid unnecessary charges. Certain small transactions may also trigger minimum conversion rules, resulting in higher-than-expected overall charges. The fees and limits discussed in this article may also change over time.

While we've used some common transaction examples above, these scenarios are illustrative only. The actual costs incurred may var based on your region, the currency used and foreign exchange rate fluctuations.

Conclusion

Bybit Card’s fees and limits have been designed to provide you with the convenience of this Mastercard-powered crypto debit card, while at the same time ensuring the sustainability and safety of the overall system. Getting to know the fees and limits involved is essential to do before you start using your card.

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