What Plasma One charged on 13 real purchases
This test is about fees. We wanted to know what Plasma One actually takes when you pay with it, especially in other currencies, including costs that never appear on its fee page. So we checked every purchase on our own Plasma One card, 28 Jun 2026 to 4 Oct 2026, against the mid-market rate, and put what we paid next to the advertised fees.
Non-USD purchases, in October, on Core, against the mid-market rate.
Advertised fees, what we paid, and cashback
In October, on Core
3 Oct 2026 to 4 Oct 2026 · 3 non-USD purchases
1.63% more than the advertised fees.
In June and July, on Core
28 Jun 2026 to 1 Jul 2026 · 10 non-USD purchases
1.12% more than the advertised fees.
Plasma pays cashback in XPL, which our records of these purchases don't include, so cashback received isn't shown.
By currency
In October, on Core
3 Oct 2026 to 4 Oct 2026 · 3 purchases
| Currency | Purchases | Typical cost | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUD | 3 | 3.13% | – |
In June and July, on Core
28 Jun 2026 to 1 Jul 2026 · 10 purchases
| Currency | Purchases | Typical cost | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUD | 10 | 2.62% | 2.40% to 2.65% |
How we worked it out
We check every purchase against that day's mid-market rate (the real exchange rate, with no markup) and report the typical cost in each currency. Every card gets at least a week of regular spending on the card first. How we test
- Plasma shows its own fee as a separate line on each purchase. It was 0.5% in June and July and about 1.4% in October. We don't know when it changed: there were no purchases between 1 Jul and 3 Oct.
- On top of that fee, Plasma's exchange rate came out about 2% worse than the mid-market rate in both periods. Plasma's published 1.5% for Core allows about 1% for Visa.
- The October figure rests on three small purchases (A$3 to A$9), where rounding to the cent moves each one by up to half a percent. All three cost between 2.9% and 3.4%.
- The October purchases fell on a weekend, so they're compared with the mid-market rate for Friday 2 October, the latest available.
- There were no US-dollar purchases, so the 0% on USD comes from Plasma's published terms.
The rankings use 3.1% for Plasma One's Core plan on purchases outside US dollars. Lite and Platinum stay on Plasma's published fees until we test them.
Plasma One
Plans, every fee and what it pays back at your spend are on the card's page.
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More cards are being tested every week. See all our tests.
General information only. These figures are calculated from the spend you enter and the card terms we've collected. We haven't considered your objectives, financial situation or needs, and this isn't a recommendation. Consider whether a card suits you and read the provider's terms before applying. Figures are estimates, terms change, and crypto is volatile.