How the G2M score works
Every card gets a score from 0 to 100, worked out from its published terms with the same rules for all 26 cards. Nobody can pay to move up.
| Part | Points | How we measure it |
|---|---|---|
| Rewards | 25 | The ongoing cashback on the entry tier, worked out on the $1,000 test basket below, so spending bands and monthly caps count. Short intro offers (such as 2% for the first 30 days) are left out. Points: 25 × (cashback rate ÷ 3.5%), so 3.5% or more earns all 25. If the issuer only publishes an “up to” rate and no entry-tier rate, Rewards scores 0. Fees never reduce this part; they are scored under Fees. |
| Fees | 30 | Annual and card-access costs (10 points): the entry tier’s yearly or subscription fee plus any non-refundable fee to get the card. Optional physical card shipping and a first top-up that stays in your balance do not count. Free scores 10, up to $100 scores 6, up to $300 scores 3, more scores 0. FX fee (12 points): 0% scores 12, up to 1% scores 9, up to 2% scores 5, more scores 2. Other transaction costs on the test basket (8 points): $0 a month scores 8, up to $10 scores 6, up to $20 scores 3, up to $30 scores 1, more scores 0. |
| Coverage | 20 | Confirmed countries (12 points): 100 or more scores 12, 50 to 99 scores 10, 20 to 49 scores 8, 5 to 19 scores 5, 1 to 4 scores 2, none scores 0. Apple Pay and Google Pay (2 points each). Physical card (4 points): a confirmed physical card scores 3, plus 1 when getting it (issuance and shipping) costs under $50; a virtual-only card scores 0. |
| Banking features | 15 | Five features worth 3 points each. A bank account number to receive money (3 in your own name, 2 for a shared account with a reference code). Sending money out to a bank account (3 for two or more currencies, 1.5 for one). Buying and selling crypto with fiat in the app (3 for both, 1.5 for one way). Spending against your crypto without selling it (3). A yield on your unspent balance (3). |
| Control | 10 | Who holds your funds while you spend. Self-custodial cards score 10, cards that let you choose custodial or self-custodial also score 10, custodial-only cards score 5, and cards that do not say score 0. |
The $1,000 test basket
Rewards and other transaction costs are worked out on the same month of spending for every card: $1,000 split into five equal $200 buckets, 35 purchases in all.
| Purchase size | Purchases | Total |
|---|---|---|
| $200 | 1 | $200 |
| $100 | 2 | $200 |
| $50 | 4 | $200 |
| $25 | 8 | $200 |
| $10 | 20 | $200 |
Other transaction costs are everything the basket costs you in fees in a month: a percentage fee on every purchase (including conversion fees), flat fees per purchase (charged on all 35), top-up or funding fees, and small-purchase fees on the basket purchases below the issuer's limit. As a guide, $10 a month is 1% of the basket and $20 is 2%. A card with a 2% fee on every purchase and no FX fee costs $20 a month wherever you are.
When an issuer publishes its fees and lists no per-purchase or small-purchase fee, we count it as $0. A fee is only “not published” when there is no fee schedule at all, or the issuer says a fee applies without giving the amount.
Missing figures
Anything the issuer does not publish scores 0 for that part: a fee, a cashback rate, Apple Pay or Google Pay support, or who holds your funds. We show it as “Not published”. A card that states its terms clearly will always beat one that leaves them out.
Confirmed countries come from the issuer's own country list. When a card has no full list yet, we count the countries confirmed among the markets we check for every card (the US, the UK, India, the UAE and the EU, which counts as all 30 EEA countries).
Where the data comes from
Each card page lists its sources with the date we checked them: the issuer's own site and help pages first, then public datasets such as DefiLlama's crypto card listings. We re-check every card at least every 90 days and update sooner when an issuer changes its terms.
Where each card works
For every country we mark each card as available, not available, or not confirmed. We use the issuer's own country list when it publishes one, and we have checked the US, the UK, the EU, India and the UAE for every card. “Not confirmed” means the issuer has not said either way, so check their country list before you apply.
Scores by country
The same card is not the same deal everywhere. Some tiers, fees and cashback rates are only for one country, so the rankings pick up where you live and score every card for that country with the same formula. Rewards and fees come from the tiers offered there, cards that are not available there drop out, and # is the rank in that country. For one country, the 12 country points become: confirmed there 12, not confirmed 5. When no card has confirmed a country yet, you see the worldwide ranking with each card marked not confirmed.
The test basket is spent in your country's currency. If the card does not bill in it (for example a US dollar card used in India or the UAE), the FX fee applies to every purchase, so it is added to the basket's transaction costs together with any fee on every purchase and any small-purchase fee charged on foreign purchases. Worldwide, the basket is spent in the card's own currency.
Card pages show the worldwide score, plus the score and rank in your country. Pick “All countries” in the rankings to see the worldwide list.
The rewards calculator
The calculator works out a year on every card for your monthly spend: rewards minus the plan fee, FX fees, per-purchase fees, small-purchase fees and top-up fees. It has three views: the best card for you (every card available where you live, at its best tier for your spend or its entry tier only), the tiers of one card side by side with the monthly spend where each dearer tier starts to pay off, and one card line by line.
Your spending is split three ways: your own currency at home, US dollars online, and other currencies when you travel (80%, 10% and 10% to start). A card only charges no FX fee on a currency it bills in (most crypto cards bill in US dollars, some also in euros), so someone in India paying in rupees on a dollar card pays the FX fee on every purchase, and foreign-only fees such as KAST's small-purchase fee apply too. When an issuer does not say which currency it bills in, we count the FX fee on all spending.
Purchase sizes follow the same mix as the test basket ($10 to $200, 20% of spending in each size), or one size of your choice. Small-purchase fees are charged on the purchases below the issuer's limit. Top-up fees are worked out on everything you load, including the money that goes on fees: load = (spend + fees) ÷ (1 − top-up fee).
Year 2 onwards counts yearly fees and ongoing rates only. Year 1 adds the one-off card fee (or the physical card and shipping, if you pick a physical card) and any welcome rate, such as 2% for the first 30 days. Rewards can be counted at face value, conservatively (cash, stablecoins, BTC and ETH at 100%, other tokens at 75%, points at 50%), or as cash and stablecoins only. Spending caps and bands are applied where published. Plans only offered in other countries are left out. The card finder uses the same FX rules.
How G2M makes money
Some “Get the card” buttons may use referral links, and card issuers can pay for the Featured spot at the top of the home page. That spot is always labelled Sponsored, shows the card's real G2M score and rank, and runs for a fixed period. When no one has booked it, it shows the top-ranked card.
Neither a referral nor a sponsorship ever changes a card's score, rank or position in the rankings, and cards without either are ranked exactly the same way.
Found a mistake?
Card terms change all the time. If something is out of date, send us a correction and we will check it against the issuer's site.
Data last checked 25 Oct 2026. Not financial advice.