A Colombian dollar card that spends from a USDC balance, weighed against the things it doesn't say

Updated October 2026

Licensed

Available in US

Fast payouts

18+ Only

The VIIO card is a Visa that pulls from a USDC-backed US-dollar balance on a platform that says it does not lend, does not hold customer money and is not a bank. That description is accurate as far as it goes, but the same pages leave a number of practical questions unanswered, and the contract is governed by Colombian law. The card is most useful for a Colombian resident who wants a US-dollar Visa paid for in stablecoins, and it is harder to judge for anyone else.

This page is a review based on VIIO’s own card terms, help-centre articles and the public material around the launch, checked on 20 October 2026. The conditions below are current as of October 28, 2026.

Verdict

VIIO scores 6.6 out of 10. The number is built up from five sub-scores, each one a slice of how the card actually performs for a cardholder.

The total is 6.6 / 10.

For a Colombian resident with a USDC stash who wants a dollar Visa without the friction of a US bank account, VIIO is a sensible fit. For a person in Europe, North America, or most of Asia it is a harder sell: the eligibility list is not published, the contract is Colombian, and the company behind the card is not a regulated payments institution under any name I could verify on the public pages.

Eligibility

The single hardest fact about VIIO is that the card’s own terms and pages do not publish a list of eligible countries. The card page says merchants accept Visa “in 200+ countries”, which is a statement about where you can spend, not where you can be issued the card. The terms say the contract is governed by the laws of Colombia, and the help centre answers around a Colombian bank and PSE top-up and around a passport-without-Colombian-ID scenario, but the answers to that scenario were not on the pages I read.

What is actually stated is narrow. The card page describes the offer in a Colombian context, the help centre signposts a Colombian bank and PSE path, the company behind the product is Persimon S.A.S. (VIIO Colombia), and the consumer-rights section of the terms leans on Article 51 of the Colombian Consumer Protection Statute. The natural reading is that VIIO is built for, and legally anchored in, Colombia.

If you are in Colombia, you have a clear path. If you are not, the pages do not commit to issuing you a card at all, and the absence of an issuer name, an EMI licence, or a CASP registration under MiCA or equivalent frameworks means there is no public licence to look up either.

How to get it

Sign-up starts in the mobile app and runs through three steps the card terms describe in plain language.

First, you confirm that you are of legal age and you supply the information VIIO asks for; the terms commit you to keeping that information up to date at least once a year. The full document list is not stated, and VIIO does not publish the documents it asks for by residency tier. The terms reserve the right to consult credit bureaux, so a credit-file hit is part of the flow.

Second, you fund the account. The virtual card unlocks once you have topped it up with at least 3 USD. The physical card needs a balance of at least 50 USD before it is sent. The card arrives deactivated and is activated in the app; you do not need to call anyone or visit a branch.

Third, you pick your card. The product is a Visa, and VIIO offers a virtual card and a physical card. The virtual card is the one that gets a dynamic CVV, which means the three-digit security code can rotate, the way some other fintechs do. The physical card is contactless, the kind that works with a tap at a terminal. Both cards draw from the “Digital USD balance” the app shows you.

Physical-card delivery countries, delivery time and shipping cost are not stated. If the physical card is lost or damaged, replacement is 5 USD; reissuance of the virtual card is 0 USD. If the physical card is defective or a disputed charge is resolved in your favour, the replacement is free.

KYC level names, like tier-one or tier-two, are not stated.

What it really costs

The headline numbers are friendly. Virtual issuance is free, reissuance is 0 USD, and there is no monthly fee. The physical card is described as “no cost (currently exempt)”, with a footnote that VIIO will charge 5 USD if the balance sits below 50 USD, and the terms flag that fees “may be reinstated”. The card terms also state plainly: “The Card currently does not charge any fee.”

That is the table as the card states it. The conversion fee is the single line most worth your attention, because the public pages do not show a percentage. The card terms say VIIO does not currently charge a fee, but the same terms also say purchases depend on the Visa type and exchange rate. There is a free-allowance figure missing for ATM withdrawals, and the daily and monthly ceilings per KYC level are also not in the published material. If you are the kind of person who plans around a number, this is the section where you have to write to [email protected] to find out.

What an everyday payment looks like

A coffee in Bogotá paid in pesos from a USDC balance. The card does the conversion at whatever rate Visa applies, and VIIO says the card “currently does not charge any fee” for that conversion, so the cost is whatever difference sits between the Visa rate and the mid-market rate. That difference is not published on VIIO’s pages.

An online subscription in euros billed to a USDC-funded card. The same dynamic plays out: Visa’s rate, no VIIO percentage, and the page does not say whether the dynamic-CVV on the virtual card and the standard 3-D Secure flow with the merchant. If the merchant sends a 3-D Secure challenge, the issuer decides whether to approve it frictionlessly or ask for a one-time code.

An ATM withdrawal in Cancún. The ATM operator’s fee shows on the screen, and you decide whether to accept it. VIIO’s own fee is not listed, and the card does not state a free number of withdrawals per month, so the only honest answer is that the ATM operator’s fee is the cost you can see, and any VIIO fee is the cost you would find out the hard way.

Top up

VIIO keeps two stablecoin balances, USDC and USDT, on top of a “Digital USD balance” that the card actually spends from. Topping the card up means moving money from one to the other, or pulling money in from the outside.

The outside routes are three. The first is PSE, the Colombian real-time payments scheme, which VIIO currently runs at no cost. The second is a Colombian bank transfer, where VIIO does not charge but the bank may. The third is a crypto top-up: you send USDC or USDT to a wallet address the app gives you, or you scan a QR. The published material does not list the networks VIIO accepts for those transfers, and it does not state a fee for the crypto top-up itself. On top of those routes, the terms also mention withdrawing back out: withdrawing cash is “no cost (currently exempt)” in COP, USD, CAD, AUD, EUR, GBP, MXN, and transferring back to a crypto wallet is described as network fee only, with VIIO charging nothing.

The minimum top-up numbers are concrete. The virtual card unlocks once 3 USD has been moved in, and the physical card needs 50 USD before it is sent. That second threshold is also the one that protects you from the 5 USD low-balance surcharge.

The empty boxes are the ones to act on. If you keep a USDC balance on Ethereum, on Solana, on Polygon, on Tron, or anywhere else, you need to know which network VIIO will hand you a deposit address on, because sending USDC on the wrong network to a USDC address is the most common way people lose crypto to a top-up. The published pages do not give you that information. The same caution applies to USDT.

Paying with it every day

At a shop, the physical card is a contactless Visa. The terminal reads it, the merchant receives pesos, the card network converts the amount from your Digital USD balance, and VIIO’s pages say the card “currently does not charge any fee” on top of that. Online, the virtual card with its rotating CVV is the more useful tool, because you can pull a fresh number from the app for each merchant.

Apple Pay is supported with the virtual card; the help centre walks through adding it. Google Pay is not addressed on the pages I read, so treat it as unconfirmed. Whether specific merchant categories are blocked, gambling and crypto purchases being the obvious candidates, is also not stated.

Rewards are not stated. The iOS app, on the Colombian App Store, sat at 4.0 out of 5 over 12 ratings when I read it; the Google Play listing was not readable on the page I loaded. App Store ratings from a single country on a small sample are a thin signal, so treat that 4.0 as a starting point rather than a verdict.

If something goes wrong with a charge, you have five business days from the moment you became aware of the problem to ask for a reversal. Fraud, an unauthorised purchase, non-delivery of goods, and defective goods are the four cases the terms call out, and the whole flow is run under Article 51 of the Colombian Consumer Protection Statute, which is Colombian law rather than EU or US consumer law.

What can go wrong

The risks fall into four buckets: who is actually behind the card, what we do not know about the company, what we do know about the product, and what we do not know about the product.

The company is Persimon S.A.S., the operator described as “VIIO Colombia” in the brand, and the public material refers to the parent as “Persimon (VIIO)”. The footer on VIIO’s pages carries a disclaimer: the platform “does not provide or offer regulated financial services”. The terms reinforce that, saying VIIO “does not collect public funds”. The card is on the Visa network, but the issuing bank is not named on the pages I read, and there is no public licence to look up under MiCA, the UK EMI register, the US state money-transmitter list, or the equivalent Colombian registers, as far as I could verify. Press coverage from La Republica in January 2025 describes a launch with Visa and Dock, but that is a launch announcement, not a regulatory filing.

There is a security layer to lean on, and it is a real one. The virtual card has a dynamic CVV, so the printed security code can rotate, and the physical card works with a PIN. You can freeze or cancel either card in the app, instantly. The app sends instant alerts. The PIN blocks after three wrong entries, which is a normal anti-brute-force setting. Whether the wallet is custodial, meaning VIIO holds the private keys, or self-custody-linked, meaning your USDC stays in your own wallet, is not stated. The terms say VIIO does not receive or manage user money, which points one way, but does not settle the question.

Support is reachable at [email protected], and the help centre at intercom.help/viio_help/en. The help centre says Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, and does not state a time zone. The public pages are in Spanish and English, and the legal language defaults to Spanish. There is no Trustpilot page, no public Reddit thread, and no official incident report in the public record. The terms describe a reversal process but no public complaints register. Venezuela and Portugal additions to the supported countries have been mentioned in unofficial channels, but the VIIO pages do not confirm them; treat that as unconfirmed.

Three risks are worth naming on their own. The first is regulatory: a card programme can be suspended by the network or closed by the issuer at any time, and a Colombian-anchored product does not have the same consumer protection framework as a card issued under PSD2 in Europe or under US state money-transmitter law. The second is counterparty: a USDC balance means exposure to Circle’s reserves, and a USDT balance means exposure to Tether’s, both of which can and have moved away from their peg in stress. The third is operational: with no named issuer, no published licence, and a small iOS rating sample, the most you can do is to keep the balance on the card small and not park salary or savings in it.

What to take instead

Three alternatives are worth weighing, and each one trades something against VIIO. The right one for you depends on where you live, what licences you are willing to rely on, and whether you want cashback on top.

International Visa Card

A U.S.-issued Platinum Visa card, virtual now with a physical version on the way, that pays in USD. Spend in foreign currency at the Visa exchange rate plus a 2% FX fee, with no card-side fee on USD purchases. Virtual issuance is 5 USD one-time, with no maintenance fee, and the product tiers are Classic (free), Pro (9 USD a month) and Max (19 USD a month). It does not serve residents or legal registrants of a long list of jurisdictions: Belarus, mainland China, North Korea, Cuba, India, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam, with FATF grey-list countries reviewed case by case. Purchases are blocked in North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Russia, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela. The rule is by residence or registration, not by citizenship. Funding is USDC or USDT into a USD account, free at 1:1, plus USD, EUR, SEPA, SWIFT and FedNow deposits. No cashback is stated. The card’s own score, on this site’s rubric, is 6.7 out of 10.

UNi Card

A multicurrency Mastercard that spends from a UNi.Global account balance. No annual fee, no foreign transaction fee, and assets converted at live OTC rates with no hidden exchange fees. The issuance fee is not stated, the physical or virtual split is not stated, and the funding path is not stated. “Spend-to-Earn rewards” go up to 3% with the card. UNi scores 6.1 out of 10.

Whop Cards

A Visa, accepted anywhere Visa is taken online and in stores, that spends from a Whop balance. Pending balance is usable as soon as a payment arrives, standard withdrawals use settled funds, and the starting data is backed by stablecoin collateral from a linked wallet. The consumer service is available in 31 US states, the business service in 41, and the unsupported countries include Belarus, mainland China, Cuba, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam. The basis, citizenship or residence, is not stated. The page says “no extra fees”, but no issuance or monthly amounts are listed, and no conversion or FX fee amounts are listed. There is 5% cashback at select merchants, currently including Uber, with more planned. Whop scores 5.2 out of 10.

If you live in Colombia, VIIO is the most local fit. If you live in the EU or the US, the International Visa Card is a more conventional dollar-card choice with a real issuer behind it. If you want multicurrency, no FX fee and Mastercard acceptance, UNi is the more flexible pick. If you want cashback on a US-state footprint, Whop is the natural option, with the caveat that the fee picture is not on the page.

Who I would recommend it to

I would point a Colombian resident with a USDC balance toward VIIO. The card is built around the Colombian payments stack, the help centre answers around Colombian banks, the legal anchor is Colombian, and the card terms give you a working USDC-to-Visa path with the headline fees at zero. The low-balance surcharge is the one number to set a reminder for: keep the balance above 50 USD and it does not bite.

I would not point a person outside Colombia toward VIIO. The eligibility list is not published, the issuer is not named, there is no public licence to look up, and the consumer-rights framework is Colombian. The card is well-suited to its home market, and that is also the limit of what the public pages commit to.

For everyone else, the better move is to start with the licence, not the brand. Look for a card whose issuer is named and verifiable in a register you trust, whose fees are stated in a single table, and whose conversion percentage is a number you can plan around. VIIO is two of those three things, and that is the gap the rest of the field fills.

Frequently asked questions

What is VIIO card?

VIIO is a Visa payment card, virtual and physical, that draws from a USDC-backed US-dollar balance held inside the VIIO app. The product is run by Persimon S.A.S. (VIIO Colombia), the contract is governed by Colombian law, and the card’s own pages say the platform does not provide regulated financial services. The headline fees are at zero, and the card is most useful for Colombian residents who already hold USDC and want a dollar Visa.

Is VIIO a bank?

No, and the card’s own pages say so. The footer carries a disclaimer that VIIO does not provide or offer regulated financial services, and the card terms state that VIIO does not collect public funds. That leaves the issuer question open: the Visa is real, but the issuing bank is not named on the public pages, and there is no licence to verify on the MiCA, EMI, or US state money-transmitter registers.

Who owns VIIO?

The brand is operated by Persimon S.A.S., which VIIO’s own pages describe as “VIIO Colombia”, under the parent name “Persimon (VIIO)”. Press coverage from La Republica in January 2025 names Visa and Dock as partners on the launch of the USDC dollar card in Colombia. No higher-level owner is named in the public material.

How does VIIO card work?

You fund a USDC or USDT balance inside the app, convert to the “Digital USD balance” the card spends from, and use a Visa to pay. The virtual card carries a dynamic CVV, the physical card is contactless, and Apple Pay works with the virtual card. ATM withdrawals are possible at any Visa ATM worldwide, in the currencies the card lists: COP, USD, CAD, AUD, EUR, GBP and MXN.

How to top up VIIO card?

The three routes are PSE, Colombian bank transfer, and a USDC or USDT transfer to the address or QR the app shows you. COP via PSE is currently free, bank transfer has no VIIO fee but the bank may charge, and the crypto top-up fee is not stated. The virtual card unlocks at a 3 USD balance, the physical card needs 50 USD before it is sent. The supported networks for crypto are not in the public pages, so ask the app or support before sending.

Is VIIO card free?

The card’s own pages say so. Virtual issuance, reissuance, and the monthly fee are 0 USD; the physical card is currently exempt, with a 5 USD charge only if the balance sits below 50 USD. The card terms say “The Card currently does not charge any fee”, and that wording also says fees “may be reinstated”. The conversion percentage is not published.

How to add VIIO card to Apple Wallet?

The help centre walks through adding the virtual card to Apple Pay, which is the supported mobile-wallet path on the public pages. Google Pay is not addressed. Apple Pay tokenises the card, so the device carries a device-specific number rather than the PAN, and the cardholder authenticates at the terminal the way they would with any other Visa.

Is VIIO card safe?

The safety story has two halves. The product has real safeguards: dynamic CVV on the virtual card, PIN on the physical, instant freeze and cancellation in the app, instant alerts, PIN lockout after three wrong entries. The company has thinner public signals: no named issuer, no published licence, no public Trustpilot or Reddit footprint, and an iOS app rating of 4.0 out of 5 over 12 ratings, which is a small sample. The reasonable posture is to keep the balance on the card small and not park salary or savings in it.

How to delete VIIO account?

The card terms do not address the closure flow, and the help centre does not publish a deletion runbook. The app is the place to start; if the in-app path is not visible, write to [email protected], which is the support address on the public pages. The published help-centre hours are Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, with no time zone stated.

Is VIIO card worth it?

For a Colombian resident with a USDC balance who wants a dollar Visa, yes, with the caveat that the conversion percentage is not on the page and you should keep the balance above 50 USD to avoid the low-balance surcharge. For anyone outside Colombia, the eligibility list is not published, the contract is Colombian, and there is no named issuer to verify. The card is worth it inside its home market, and harder to recommend outside it.

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