On November 2, 2026, Startale launched its virtual payment card for early ecosystem contributors, opening spending from $USDSC balances after more than 300,000 waitlist reservations since July. Access will expand to other applicants in priority order. Selected users can now begin activation through the app, while everyone else continues to see their position in the queue.
Startale names Rain as the issuer and describes it as a Visa Principal Member. Under the published launch terms, the company says the card can be used at more than 150 million merchant locations worldwide and offers 1% cashback in $USDSC. Availability and features remain subject to applicable requirements, and the cashback rate can change or be discontinued.
Who can activate the card
Eligible users can open the Card tab in Startale App, complete identity verification and activate the virtual card. An activation prompt means access has opened; a queue ranking means the user is still waiting. Startale says it will email applicants when they can begin verification. Users who have reserved a place must wait for access before they can spend.
The app FAQ describes Startale App as a web interface optimized for desktop and mobile screens, with no native mobile app yet. It currently supports Ethereum and Soneium. The card announcement directs activation through that existing app, so users can check their eligibility there without waiting for a separate mobile download.
The earlier waitlist announcement used STAR Points balances and referrals to establish priority. Initial positions came from a July 7 points snapshot. A referral counted when the invited person both signed up for Startale App and completed a card reservation. Today’s release opens card activation to early contributors who went through that reservation process. Users selected in queue order will follow.
The issuer requires identity verification. Under the app’s terms of service, information collected during card KYC and anti-money-laundering checks is collected for the third-party issuer and its service providers. Applicants consent to Startale transmitting that information to those parties. Users of the app’s wallet interface must complete this additional verification step to use the card.
What happens to the spending balance
Startale describes the funding step as moving $USDSC to the card, without a bank transfer or exchange withdrawal. Its terms describe the underlying payment as a fiat purchase funded by stablecoins held in a Startale Card Linked Wallet. Merchant payments use the card network; the user’s funding balance sits in the wallet designated for the card.
The terms say the linked wallet is used only for the card. Users set a target asset balance, and the wallet can automatically rebalance from assets in their Startale Wallet to maintain that target. When users sign the contract that creates the linked wallet, they also authorize automatic payment of card costs, fees and expenses from the assets it holds.
A separate Hold Contract handles the period between a purchase and settlement confirmation. It places or removes temporary holds on assets in the linked wallet when the user incurs card expenses. Startale says this mechanism is intended to keep spending within the preset balance. When users set up the card, their authorization covers both funding the linked wallet and making payments through the process described in the terms.
The terms describe the linked wallet as self-custodial and under the user’s exclusive control. They say neither Startale nor its wallet providers store or can recover the user’s private keys, seed phrase or password. Social login and the card connection are described as authentication layers, without giving those providers custody of the wallet or its assets. These descriptions come from the contract terms; the deployed wallet contracts have not been independently verified here.
Card spending remains subject to limits set through the service. Startale reserves the right to change a user’s spending limit with or without prior notice, including reducing it to zero. Even with funds in the linked wallet, a user may be unable to authorize a card purchase for the full wallet balance.
Cashback and responsibility for the card
The advertised cashback is credited directly to the user’s account in $USDSC. Startale’s launch disclosure allows cashback to be reversed for refunded or cancelled purchases. The rate is also subject to program terms. The conditions presented during enrollment govern the published offer, and users cannot count on the advertised rate remaining in place for future purchases.
Rain’s role is separate from Startale’s app interface. The app terms assign provision, operation and administration of the card program to the third-party issuer and its service providers. Startale describes its role as providing the interface and facilitating access. The launch release names Rain as the issuer; the general terms describe the issuer’s responsibilities separately from Startale’s work on the app.
The same release separates the card from Startale’s Earn, yield, swap and other balance services. Those products have their own agreements. It says the card issuer is not a party to agreements covering those services and is not responsible for transactions, loans or arrangements outside card transactions. A user’s other positions in the app remain outside the issuer’s responsibility when the user activates a card.
The issuer can approve, decline, suspend or close a card account. Startale also says it may restrict app access or individual features at the request of the issuer, payment network or a regulator for fraud protection, legal compliance or card-program risk management.
The app terms also reserve Startale’s ability to introduce or change additional fees, with notice before they take effect. The launch release states the cashback rate but does not provide a complete fee schedule, country-by-country availability list or spending-limit schedule. Users still need to check those details, along with their activation status, in the card enrollment flow.
