Buy crypto with credit card, and what the card route actually costs against a bank transfer

What venues publish for this type

How to decide between card and bank

1. Compare the card fee against the free rail. The same venues that charge 1.22% to 2.4% by card publish free PayID, Osko, NPP or direct bank deposits. The only real difference is waiting a few hours.
2. Ask your issuer how it codes the purchase. Many card issuers treat a cryptoasset purchase as a cash advance, which adds their own fee and starts interest immediately with no interest-free period. No exchange fee page shows that charge.
3. Check whether the card route skips the order book. On several venues a card purchase goes through the instant-buy route, which carries its own markup on top of the deposit fee. That is two charges, not one.
4. Size the fee against what you are depositing. A percentage charge scales with the deposit. On any meaningful first funding the card convenience costs more than the trading you will do with it that year.

CoinSpot prints a card deposit fee of 1.22%. CoinJar charges 2% on a Visa or Mastercard purchase and the same 2% on Apple Pay and Google Pay, with recurring buys by debit or credit card at 1%. Swyftx publishes AUD card deposits as possibly incurring a fee of up to 2.4%, which is a ceiling rather than a rate.

Against entry-tier trading fees that start at 0.1%, the card charge on a single deposit can exceed the cost of a year of ordinary trading.

The same venues publish free alternatives. CoinSpot lists PayID and direct deposits as free, with AUD withdrawals free and unlimited once verified. CoinJar lists PayID, Osko and NPP deposits and bank transfers by BSB and account number at no fee, and Faster Payments in GBP at no fee. Swyftx lists AUD bank transfer deposits as free with a 100,000 AUD daily limit, and AUD withdrawals free and unlimited when verified.

The difference between the two routes is entirely a matter of waiting a few hours.

The venue's fee is not the only charge on a credit card purchase. Many issuers treat buying cryptoassets as a cash advance rather than a purchase, which typically carries its own fee and begins accruing interest immediately with no interest-free period. That charge comes from the card issuer and appears on no exchange fee page, so it cannot be quoted or ranked here.

Check your own card's terms before using the card route, because the exchange cannot tell you what your issuer will do.

Buying cryptoassets puts your capital at risk and buying them with borrowed money increases that risk. This page compares published charges; it does not suggest you buy, or what to buy. Crypto Exchange Compare HQ receives a share of the trading fees generated by accounts opened through its links, disclosed on every link as rel=sponsored, and the figures above are ranked by what each venue publishes rather than by what it pays.

Common questions

What is the cheapest way to buy crypto with a card?

Of the published card charges read here, CoinSpot's 1.22% card deposit is the lowest, ahead of CoinJar at 2% and Swyftx at up to 2.4%.

Is a bank transfer really free?

On these venues the AUD bank rails are published as free: PayID and direct deposits at CoinSpot, PayID, Osko and NPP at CoinJar, bank transfer at Swyftx. Free refers to the venue's charge, not your bank's.

Why is the card fee so much higher than the trading fee?

They pay for different things. The card fee covers card-scheme and processing costs on the way in; the trading fee is charged on the trade itself.

Will my credit card treat this as a cash advance?

Many issuers do, which adds their own fee and immediate interest. That charge is set by your issuer, is not published by any exchange, and is not included in the figures here.

Other venue types

• Compare Global spot venues on published fees