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Using Your Physical Relay Card

UpdatedAugust 11, 2026

Your physical Relay Visa® Debit Card is a business debit card issued by Thread Bank, Member FDIC, that spends directly from any of your Relay checking accounts.

What is the Relay Visa® Debit Card?

The Relay Visa® Debit Card is a business debit card issued by Thread Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc., and may be used anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. It draws directly from one of the checking accounts on your Relay Account.

You can issue as many physical and virtual Relay Visa® Debit Cards as you need. The number of cards you can create grows with your team members and accounts.

Who can use a Relay Visa® Debit Card?

The Relay Visa® Debit Card is available to:

  • Owners of a Relay Account

  • Team members you invite to Relay with card permissions

  • Any team member or account you assign a card to in the Relay app or web dashboard

Each card is tied to a specific checking account. You choose which account each card draws from, and you can issue individual or shared cards.

How do fees work on a Relay card?

The Relay Visa® Debit Card is included with your Relay Account. Two third-party fees can apply to transactions on the card:

  • International Service Assessment (ISA) fee. Visa charges 1-2% on transactions with international merchants or transactions processed in non-USD currencies. Visa applies this fee automatically at the point of transaction.

  • Out-of-network ATM fees. Non-Allpoint ATMs typically charge around $3.00 per withdrawal. Allpoint ATMs are surcharge-free for Relay cards.

What are my spending limits on a Relay card?

Your card spending limits come from two places: the checking account itself and card-level controls you set.

  • Account limits. To view the maximum limits on the checking account tied to your card, see Viewing your account limits.

  • Card-level limits. You can set custom spend limits per card in the Relay app or web dashboard.

  • Contactless (tap-to-pay) limits. The merchant and country of purchase set this cap. Most merchants cap contactless payments at $100 per transaction, so confirm with the merchant if you need to run a larger tap.

You must have a balance in the linked checking account before the card can be used.

How do refunds and disputes work on a Relay card?

Merchants process refunds, not Relay. The processing timeline is set by the returning merchant, vendor, or financial institution, so refund timing varies by merchant. Relay cannot see the status of a pending refund and cannot provide updates.

If you do not recognize a transaction, or the transaction is unauthorized, freeze and terminate the card and file a dispute in the Relay app or web dashboard.

How do I save my Relay card for faster online checkout?

You can save your Relay Visa® Debit Card in a password manager or browser autofill to speed up online checkout. This works for both physical and virtual Relay cards.

  1. Activate your physical card. Card details are only visible in Relay after activation.

  2. Go to Cards in Relay and open the card you want to save.

  3. Copy the card number, CVV, and expiry date.

  4. In your password manager or browser, add a new payment method and paste the details.

Common tools with their own setup guides:

  • 1Password

  • Bitwarden

  • Dashlane

  • Google Chrome autofill

  • Safari on Mac

  • Microsoft Edge

  • Firefox

If any card details change, for example when you replace a lost card, update the saved details everywhere you stored them.

What is included with a Relay Visa® Debit Card?

  • Unlimited physical and virtual card issuance across all checking accounts

  • Card-level spend controls, including vendor and category limits

  • Contactless (tap-to-pay) purchases at any Visa-accepting merchant

  • Surcharge-free withdrawals at any Allpoint ATM

  • Digital wallet support (Apple Pay, Google Pay)

  • Freeze and terminate controls from the Relay app or web dashboard

What is not included with a Relay Visa® Debit Card?

  • Cash advances at ATMs

  • Access to credit; the Relay Visa® Debit Card draws only from checking account balances

  • ISA fee waivers on international transactions (Visa charges 1-2%)

  • Surcharge waivers at non-Allpoint ATMs

Talk to our Customer Experience team

If this article did not fully answer your question, our Customer Experience team is here to help.

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Relay is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC.