Costs, licensing, consumer protection Privacy, self-custody, censorship resistance

Grey Card

Name: Grey Card
Brand: Grey

Grey · Visa

3.5/5 0.9/5 · Data verified on Jun 22, 2026

Grey (formerly Aboki Africa) is a multi-currency neobank built to give African users foreign accounts in USD, EUR and GBP with an IBAN plus a virtual USD Visa card for online payments. The card is virtual-only, costs a one-time $4 at creation (plus $1 loaded onto the balance) and offers no ATM withdrawals. Spending in the held currency carries no markup, while cross-border transactions incur an FX fee. The card monthly fee is not separately documented: set to 0 because Grey states there are no recurring card fees. The exact number of countries served by the card is not unambiguously documented (set to 0).

Transparency: Low

46/100 · see methodology

Data exposure: Low

46/100 · lower is better for sovereignty · methodology

Data & conditions

§ Amounts in USD/GBP are shown in the service's native currency.

Account fee	Free
Multi-currency	USD, EUR, GBP
Network	Visa
ATM withdrawal	Free
Free ATM limit	Nessun prelievo ATM (carta solo virtuale)
Fund custody	Custodial (platform holds funds)
KYC	Full
Supported countries	AFRICA, US, EEA, UK, LATAM · 0+ countries
Regulator	FinCEN (US) / FINTRAC (Canada)
Segment	B2C
Funding / solidity	Grey (formerly Aboki Africa), founded in 2020. US services are offered by Grey Inc. (Middletown, Delaware) and Canadian services by Grey Finance Inc. (Vancouver, BC). Foreign bank accounts and global payments for users in Africa, the US, Europe, Latin America and South-East Asia.
MiCA / License status	FinCEN MSB (US)FINTRAC MSB (Canada) Grey operates as a Money Services Business (MSB): Grey Inc. is registered with FinCEN in the United States and Grey Finance Inc. with FINTRAC in Canada.

Strengths

Multi-currency USD/EUR/GBP account with IBAN and a virtual USD Visa card.
Cheap issuance ($4 one-time) and no monthly card fee.
Foreign-banking access designed for otherwise excluded African users.

No notable sovereignty advantage documented.

Weaknesses

Virtual card only: no ATM withdrawals and no physical card.
Custodial service with mandatory full KYC.
FX fee (up to 2% + $0.50) on cross-border transactions.

Custodial: the platform holds your funds and can freeze or lose them.
Full KYC required: verified identity, zero pseudonymity.
Subject to regulation (Grey operates as a Money Services Business (MSB): Grey Inc. is registered with FinCEN in the United States and Grey Finance Inc. with FINTRAC in Canada.): reporting to authorities and freezes on order.

Verdict

B D ★ 3.5/5 ★ 0.9/5 Estimated net annual cost: €0/year

Custodial service with full KYC: funds are not self-custodied. Grey operates as an MSB registered with FinCEN (US) and FINTRAC (Canada), AML registration regimes that do not offer the same deposit protection as a traditional bank.

Very low sovereignty: fully custodial service, mandatory KYC, virtual-only card tied to a centralized neobank account. The user controls neither the keys nor the funds.

Privacy & anonymity 30% 0.5

Fund control 20% 0.0

Censorship resistance 20% 1.5

Costs 10% 2.5

Promp's editorial rating based on real fees and net annual cost. Promp reviews third-party products independently.

"Sovereignty" rating: score computed on privacy/anonymity (30%), fund control (20%), censorship resistance (20%), trustless/auditability (20%) and costs (10%). Same data, different weights.

FAQ

Is the Grey card physical or virtual?

It is a virtual-only card (a USD Visa) for online payments; there is no physical version and no ATM withdrawals.

How much does it cost to create a Grey card?

Creation costs a one-time $4, plus $1 loaded onto the card balance. There are no recurring monthly fees; spending in the held currency carries no markup, while cross-border transactions incur an FX fee of up to 2% + $0.50.