Fairy Pay: Who Needs a Physical Card Anymore? - CardsFTW #207
Plus, Neo, USAA, and Tether launch news cards
The Internet is Weird, and I’m Here for It
You know what wasn’t on my 2026 fintech bingo card? Block (Cash App) created physical “tags” for payments, starting with a wand. The Magic Wand is a contactless debit card that is in the end of a cute little wand.
Block started selling them at $25 each, but they have sold out! For the sake of research (I am NOT the target demographic), I acquired one (and paid for expedited shipping so I could share with you all). Half my house already wants a wand of their own.
Nothing stops anyone from putting contactless chips into interesting things (rings, wristbands, etc.), but I haven’t seen a wand before. Apparently, people on TikTok were 3D printing wands, shoving their cards into them, and adding sparkle to their day. Their days were a little less magical when they attempted to remove and realized they forgot to print an easy release.
The human desire for physical things is real. The less we use physical credit cards (in favor of mobile wallets), the more it seems people care about their physical cards (hence the rapid rise of customizable debit and expensive metallic cards). What a time to be alive.
Neo Launches Four New Cards
I don’t cover Canadian cards often, but I am following Neo Financial closely, Canada’s leading card-issuing fintech. The company launched new cards last week, allowing users to pick their setup, which I think is very simple and clever.
There are three reward options:
- Shopping and dining
- Gas and grocery
- Everyday cashback
Each card comes in standard (No annual fee) or World Elite ($149 per year).
PLUS, you can switch your categories every day. Is it 6 new cards? Just 2? Either way, I like it!
The company also offers a secured Neo World Elite® Mastercard – Shop & Dine earns the same 5% on food & drink as its unsecured counterpart. (There are some limits, see details.)
It’s not all good news for Neo. Their Tim Hortons card, launched in June 2023, is no more and ends on October 1. Coffee shop credit cards are a tough sell.
Delta Updates
Meanwhile, south of the border (as the Canadians say), American Express and Delta announced a large update to the Delta card lineup in what can only be described as virtually unheard of in 2026, no change to the annual fees!
Holders of the Gold, Platinum, or Reserve cards will get not one, but two free checked bags (domestically). Gold cards will get a $120 rideshare credit ($10 per month). Plus, signup bonuses are higher.
Delta also refreshed the card designs. They look… pointy. I love change. (That’s a delta joke.)
Fly Like An Eagle
If you don’t like Delta and, unlike Gronk, are a veteran or a child of a veteran, you get the USAA Eagle Adapt card that just launched. The card has 3% cashback across the largest category of merchants I’ve seen for a card like this with an accelerator:
- Groceries
- Dining
- Home Improvement & Home Furnishings
- Gas & Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
- Travel
- Transit
- Health & Wellness
- Live Entertainment & Streaming Services
That’s a lot! Although it is limited to $3,000 per quarter.
USAA has a number of very strong cards, like Preferred Cash Rewards Visa Signature® Credit Card (1.5%) and the Cashback Rewards Plus American Express® Credit Card (5% gas, 3% grocery), but I would like them to get more creative with card design.
A Real Gold Card
Finally, this week, Tether, the maker of (un)stablecoin USDT has announced a gold-backed Visa credit card in collaboration with Fasset (is that short for fake-asset?)
Writing about crypto cards makes me feel silly:
- This is a Visa card that spends money in fiat to work with merchants.
- You will earn 6% “cash back” in XAU₮ (which isn’t really cash, to be clear), which creates “a reward layer tied to Tether’s gold-backed assets”
You spend your assets by converting gold (ish) XAU₮ into the stablecoin USD₮, then into fiat.
What is XAU₮? It’s a token that represents one troy fine ounce of gold on a London Good Delivery bar. I prefer my ounces bold, but whatever.
OK, cool, but WHY? Seems like a lot.
APMEX, which is a US-based precious metals exchange, offers the Bullion Card, which offers up to 5% back in gold and silver on APMEX purchases, plus 1% back in gold and silver on all other purchases. Sure, it’s not all tokenized or whatever, but probably your gold is tracked in a database, and it sounds a little less crazy. The Apmex card is issued by the super-regional bank UMB.
The fasset card is issued by Rain, so I assume Tether’s will be too!
CardsFTW
CardsFTW, released weekly on Wednesdays, offers insights and analysis on new credit and debit card industry products for consumers and providers. CardsFTW is authored and published by Matthew Goldman and the team at Totavi, a boutique consulting firm specializing in fintech product management & marketing. We bring real operational experience that varies from the earliest days of a startup to high-growth phases and public company leadership. Visit www.totavi.com to learn more.
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