Is The Plutus Card Worth It? Everything You Need To Know About The Plutus Card
1. What Is A Plutus Card?
The Plutus card is one of the many cashback cards that are currently available on the market. When optimizing your personal finances, it makes sense to start with “quick wins”. One of these is to use a cashback card.
Cashback cards often function like a prepaid card and can be used for everyday purchases, both online and in-store. In contrast to traditional debit cards, cashback cards provide users with a cashback for every transaction.
Up until recently, Crypto.com (= a competitor of Plutus) provided the most interesting cashback cards. However, Crypto.com recently reduced the attractiveness of its metal visa debit cards.
Because of this, many Crypto.com users are now looking for the “new best card”. Look no further than Plutus. It’s the best cashback card currently available for everyday purchases.
This blog is not sponsored by Plutus.
How Much Does A Plutus Card Cost?
It’s free to sign up, request and use a Plutus card. Card delivery is also free.
2. Plutus Cashback Rates
The standard cashback rate of the Plutus card is 3%. A cashback of 3% means that when you spend €100 at your local supermarket, you get €3 back.
Plutus pays this €3 in Pluton (= “PLU”), but only after 45 days. This is done to prevent abuse of the cashback program (e.g. by buying and returning items). After 45 days, users are free to convert PLU, which is a cryptocurrency, back into EUR, USD….
By holding PLU (“staking”), Plutus card holders can increase their cashback rates from 3% to 8% (see below — ‘5. Plutus Staking Possibilities’).
3. Plutus Perks
On top of the “regular” cashbacks, Plutus card holders can select 1–8 perks. For example, one of these perks is free Netflix.
Spending money at any of the available retailers results in a 100% rebate, up to €10 or £10. For example, if you enjoy 4 perks, the maximum cashback you will get out of this is 4 * €10 = €40 per month.
Overview of Plutus perks, May 2022 (€/£10 / month / perk)
And new add on July 2022 :
Curve, Up to £/€10 in PLU / month
How many perks you can select depends on your subscription and stake.
4. Plutus Subscription Plans
Users can choose between 3 Plutus subscriptions. Your subscription determines on what amount you will be able to enjoy cashbacks, how many perks you can select and what fee you pay when buying and selling crypto on the Plutus exchange.
Overview of Plutus subscriptions, May 2022
For most people, the Everyday option will be most sensible. This way you enjoy a 3% cashback on up to €2,000 per month and benefit from 2 perks.
For example, if you spend €1,000 per month and also spend money at your selected retailers, your yearly net cashbacks will be 12 * (3% * €1,000 + 2 * €10 - €4.99) = €540.12. Not bad for 10 minutes of work!
Reward Caps
Assuming no staking, the maximum yearly cashbacks per subscription are:
- Starter: 12 * (3% * €250 + 1 * €10) = €210
- Everyday: 12 * (3% * €2,000 + 2 * €10) = €960
- Premium: 12 * (3% * €22,500 + 3 * €10) = €8,460
Assuming you always spend money in the shops where you enjoy your perks first (= “capping out on your perks”), the subscription that’s best for you will depend on how much you spend per month with your card:
- €0–19: Starter subscription is best
- €20–2,030: Everyday subscription is best
- >€2,030: Premium subscription is best
Calculate your monthly savings
5. Plutus Staking Possibilities
By staking PLU, users can increase their cashback rate and number of perks.
For example, if you opted for an Everyday subscription and stake 250 PLU, you will receive a cashback of 4% and 4 perks. This means your maximum annual cashbacks are 12 * (4% * €2,000 + 4 * €10) = €1,440.
Overview of Plutus staking options, May 2022
At a price of €8 per Pluton token, the prices of different staking plans are as follows:
- Hero: 250 * €8 = €2,000
- Veteran: 500 * €8 = €4,000
- Legend: 1,000 * €8 = €8,000
- G.O.A.T: 2,000 * €8 = €16,000
Is Staking Pluton Worth It?
While staking increases your cashbacks and perks, it is important to keep in mind that staking PLU exposes you to price fluctuations in PLU.
If PLU goes up in value, you will benefit 3 times from staking:
- Higher cashback rates and more perks
- Cashbacks are paid out in a token that is now worth more than before
- Your PLU investment (= stake) increased in value
If PLU decreases in value, your stake will decrease in value. For example, your €16,000 could decrease in value to €0 if the company messes up.
Will PLU Go Up Or Down?
Nobody knows. The company and Pluton token could go to the moon, but also to zero. Today, Plutus is a small company with 30 employees. Only about €16 million of Pluton is in circulation. Only 8,000 people hold PLU.
It is in the company’s best interest to see the price of PLU increase. The interests of Plutus users and the company are aligned.
If the company cannot create more incentives for people to buy PLU, its price will go down. To not exposure yourself to this risk, consider:
- Not staking (= using the card without holding PLU)
- Converting your PLU cashbacks to your native currency every month
- Not holding too much money on your card
6. Plutus’ Weak Point: High Foreign Exchange Rates
Unfortunately, the Plutus card is characterized by high foreign transaction and ATM withdrawal fees. For example, when paying in the US, a EUR-customer will pay a commission of €1 + 1.5% of the transaction amount.
A quick and free fix is to link your Plutus card to a Curve card. By doing this, you will be able to withdraw up to £200/month and spend £500/month abroad for free.
An overview of Plutus’ fees is available here.
It’s clear that if you frequently spend or withdraw money in foreign currencies, you should not do this with a Plutus card. Consider getting a 2nd card such as the Crypto.com Royal Indigo or Jade Green card. These cards allow users to:
- Withdraw up to €800 abroad per month without fees
- Spend up to €10,000 per month at perfect interbank rates
You can read more about Crypto.com cards here.
7. Sign Up Today
Take a first step in optimizing your personal finances by creating a Plutus account through this link. You will receive a welcome gift of $10 in PLU and support this blog series in the process.
Your welcome gift will unlock when you deposit at least €20 on your account within 45 days of creating your account.
Combine Plutus, Curve and Crypto.com
While waiting for your Plutus card to be delivered, it is a good idea to already sign up for Curve (card that you can link to other cards).
Finally, the Plutus card is ideal for domestic use. Have a look at the Crypto.com card for your foreign spending.
Annexes: Additional Useful Information
Annex 1: Plutus Card Limits
Certain card limits are the same regardless of your Plutus subscription:
- Max card account balance at any time: €7,500 or £7,500
- Daily contactless payment limit: €90 or £90 (avoidable through Curve)
- Daily ATM limit: €300 or £300 (avoidable through Curve)
Daily spending limits vary by subscription:
- Starter: €2,500 or £2,500
- Everyday: €5,500 or £5,500
- Premium: €7,500 or £7,500
Weekly spending limits also vary by subscription:
- Starter: €3,000 or £3,000
- Everyday: €10,000 or £10,000
- Premium: €15,000 or £15,000
Same for monthly spending limits:
- Starter: €5,000 or £5,000
- Everyday: €15,500 or £15,500
- Premium: €22,500 or £22,500
Overall, limits are relatively low. However, many of these limitations can be bypassed by linking your Plutus card to a Curve card.
An extensive and updated overview of card limits can be found here.
Annex 2: Plutus Card Limitations
The Plutus card offers the highest cashbacks currently available on the market. It’s definitely worth it to sign up for the card and try it out. However, be mindful of certain limitations:
- Relatively low spending limits
- Relatively low max account balance
- No clear long-term utility of Pluton tokens
- Slow exchange (buying large amounts of Pluton does not work) and customer support
- Long card delivery time and no virtual cards available (work-in-progress)
- Card top-ups are typically not possible in the weekend (company cannot keep up with rising demand, resulting in technical issues and bottlenecks)
- You can only share your own referral code with friends and family after topping up your card
