MiniPay Launches Its Visa Card, Powered by Gnosis Pay

MiniPay, Opera's self-custodial stablecoin wallet, has launched the MiniPay Card: a digital Visa debit card powered by Gnosis Pay. Eligible users can now spend their stablecoin balances across Europe (EEA), Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia at more than 175 million Visa merchant locations worldwide. Gnosis Pay runs the card program behind it.

MiniPay already had the wallet, the users, and the balances. What its users did not have was a way to spend those balances at a normal checkout. Gnosis Pay closes that gap. We built the card program so a wallet can connect its stablecoin balances to Visa without becoming a card issuer, a bank, or a payments company itself.

The last meter problem

In a lot of markets, people already save and get paid in digital dollars. Holding stablecoins is solved. Spending them is the hard part.

A balance sitting in a wallet does not pay for groceries, a bus fare, or a subscription. To do that, the money has to reach a merchant through rails the merchant already accepts. For most of the world, that means Visa. Friederike Ernst, co-founder of Gnosis, puts it this way:

"For someone in Lagos or Nairobi who already holds savings in digital dollars, the missing piece isn't the wallet. It's the last meter. The ability to spend those balances at a checkout in another country without the merchant needing to know or care about crypto."

The last meter is the distance between a stablecoin balance and a card terminal. It is short, and it is where most stablecoin products stop. The MiniPay Card covers it.

What the MiniPay Card is

The MiniPay Card is a digital Visa debit card that lives inside the MiniPay wallet. Users add it to Apple Pay or Google Pay and spend with a tap, online or in person, anywhere Visa is accepted. The balance in the wallet is the balance on the card.

Behind the familiar card experience sits a stablecoin card program. When a user taps, their stablecoin balance is settled to Visa in real time, and the merchant is paid in their local currency. The merchant sees a normal Visa payment.

How Gnosis Pay powers it

Gnosis Pay is the stablecoin card program manager for the MiniPay Card. That means we handle the technical layer that turns a wallet balance into a working card, and we coordinate the regulated parts of the stack rather than performing them ourselves.

Here is how the pieces fit:

• Issuing. The card is issued through Monavate's regulated card issuing, on Visa's global network. Gnosis Pay is the program manager around that.

• Settlement. When the card is used, the stablecoin balance is bridged to Visa in real time. The merchant receives local currency with no crypto-specific setup.

• Self-Custody. Funds stay in the user's self-custodial wallet until the moment of spending. MiniPay users keep control of their balances.

• Onboarding. A wallet that already has users can pass its existing user base and verification into the program, rather than starting from zero.

This is the work that usually takes a wallet many months to assemble piece by piece: an issuer relationship, a Visa program, settlement, and the compliance coordination to run it across markets. Gnosis Pay packages it so a fintech, neobank or wallet can ship the card instead of building a card company.

Key takeaway: As the card program manager, Gnosis Pay connects a wallet's stablecoin balances to Visa in real time, so the merchant gets paid in local currency and never has to know crypto was involved.

Who it is for

The MiniPay Card launches into an existing base. Since 2023, MiniPay has grown to more than 16 million activated wallets, with strong adoption across Africa and other high-growth regions. The card is available to eligible users in selected markets across Europe (EEA), Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, anywhere Visa is accepted.

It also builds on what MiniPay already shipped. After introducing Virtual Bank Accounts, which let users receive money straight into their wallets as stablecoins, the card adds the other half: a way to spend those balances online and in person. Money in, money out, in one wallet.

Why this matters beyond MiniPay

MiniPay is one wallet. The pattern is the point. Any wallet or fintech with users and stablecoin balances faces the same last meter, and the same choice: build a card company, or plug into a card program that already runs. Gnosis Pay is built for the second path. We did the same integration work for MiniPay that any partner would do, making this launch a template for future wallet integrations.

It also fits how Gnosis thinks about money. Stablecoins should work like money, which means they have to be spendable. A balance you can hold but not spend is a savings account with extra steps. A balance you can tap at any Visa terminal is closer to the thing money is supposed to be.

Tip: If you run a wallet or a fintech, the rails behind the MiniPay Card are the same ones you integrate with Gnosis Pay. The build starts in the docs.

Availability, fees, and rewards

The MiniPay Card is launching to eligible users in selected markets. Find details on availability and product features at minipay.to/virtual-card.

• Fees. No monthly or annual fee. Transactions carry a low nominal FX fee.

• Wallet integration. The card works with Apple Pay and Google Pay for contactless payments.

• Rewards. In selected markets, the card offers cashback in digital assets, including Tether Gold (XAUt0), USDT and USDC.

This launch continues the path Gnosis Pay has been on, from remittances to retail: making stablecoin balances usable in the places people spend. It is also a working example of the ownership-first model we have been building toward, where users keep custody and still get the convenience of a card.

FAQ

What is the MiniPay Card?

The MiniPay Card is a digital Visa debit card inside Opera's MiniPay wallet. It lets eligible users spend their stablecoin balances at over 175 million Visa merchants, online or in person.

Where can you use the MiniPay Card?

It is available to eligible users in selected markets across Europe (EEA), Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, and it spends anywhere Visa is accepted.

Do you need crypto knowledge to use the MiniPay Card?

No. Users add the card to Apple Pay or Google Pay and tap to pay. It spends like any other contactless Visa card.

How is the MiniPay Card different from a regular debit card?

It spends from your own self-custodial stablecoin balance instead of a bank account. You keep custody of your funds until the moment you tap.

Do merchants need to accept crypto?

No. Merchants are paid in their local currency and see a normal Visa payment. They do not need to accept crypto or set anything up.

Build your card program

The last meter is closed for 16 million wallets. The next ones are the wallets and fintechs that have not shipped a card yet, and the rails are ready for them.

If you are building one, book a demo or learn more on gnosispay.com.