Halocard vs Starling Bank
Two virtual cards people weigh up side by side. We put Halocard and Starling Bank on the same rows so the difference is easy to see.
Halocard issues on Visa and Starling Bank on Mastercard; both ask for ID + proof; only Halocard takes crypto top-ups.
Starling Bank is the more cost-effective option for everyday spending and travel thanks to its free virtual cards, no monthly fee, 0% foreign transaction fees, no top-up fee. Halocard is the better fit for power users who need crypto funding.
Where they split
| Field | Halocard | Starling Bank |
|---|---|---|
| Card network | Visa | Mastercard |
| Card type | Crypto Card | Digital Bank / Neobank |
| KYC | ID + proof | ID + proof |
| Card issuance fee | Essential 3 cards $12/mo; Pro 12 cards $15/mo; Elite 60 cards $75/mo | Free |
| Monthly fee | Essential $12; Pro $15; Elite $75 (annual gives 2 months free) | Free |
| Top-up fee | 1% (stablecoin/credit card/bank transfer); some sources say credit card 5% | — |
| FX fee | Non-USD 1.5%+$0.30; USD spend $0 | 0% (no foreign transaction fee) |
| Crypto funding | Yes (stablecoin top-up) | No |
| AI tool support | ChatGPT / Claude / Midjourney | ChatGPT / Claude / Midjourney |
| Risk level | Medium | Low-Medium |
| Our rating | 8.4 | 9.1 |
| User reviews | 319 | 437 |
| Best for | All-rounder · Ad spend | All-rounder · Ad spend |
A green left edge marks the side that holds the advantage on that row, where the data gives one.
The two, compared
- Budget-led users will lean to Starling Bank: the running cost is the lower of the two.
- Halocard can sit on a crypto balance; Starling Bank cannot, so the call depends on how you fund it.
- Starling Bank edged Halocard on our composite rating across fees, risk and merchant tests.
- Starling Bank carries the lower risk flag in our file, which some users prefer for a primary card.
What sets them apart
Starling Bank is the cheaper card to hold: free to create and no top-up fee, against about $3 and a 1% top-up at Halocard. Halocard earns its keep only if you need crypto funding.
Questions people ask
That depends on what you spend on. Halocard scores 8.4/10 against Starling Bank's 9.1/10 in our tests, but the two split on fees, KYC and crypto funding. Read the table above, then match it to the checkouts you actually run.
Starling Bank works out cheaper: no virtual card issuance fee, free account maintenance, 0% foreign transaction fee, no top-up fee. Halocard adds about $3 per virtual card, $12 a month, a 1.5% FX fee, a 1% top-up fee.
Halocard asks for ID + proof at signup; Starling Bank asks for ID + proof. If a light sign-up is the priority, the one with the lower KYC label is the faster route.
Both show up in 14 of the same test scenarios, including ChatGPT Plus, Anthropic API, Midjourney. They overlap on a good share of checkouts, so the choice between them matters most on those pages. Where one is accepted and the other is not usually comes down to the billing country and 3-D Secure handling.
Where both show up
Halocard and Starling Bank both landed in our top picks for 14 checkouts. Grouped by category so you can jump straight to the one you actually pay for:
🤖 AI Tools & Developer Tools 6
📈 Ad Platforms 4
🌐 Cloud & VPS 2
Their BIN ranges
Cards issued in 🇸🇬 Singapore · 🇬🇧 UK — the country guides group every range we track from there.
What our charge log shows
Every count here is a real charge attempt we placed on that range, renewals included, with the gateway response recorded. Weeks tracked is how long the range has been in the programme: