Polkadot Community Foundation: Polkadot Payment Card

16MV...1Sq1

Wish For Change

16d ago

Executed

Content

AI Summary

Polkadot Community Foundation: Polkadot Payment Card

Proponent: Autonomous Projects (16MVQPFt325pJ74bYpCGUWjyANFDZFZP3efYyV6XReAd1Sq1)

Top Line

This proposal seeks to ratify the alignment from the Polkadot community to launch a “Polkadot” branded payment card for our ecosystem.

The card will be a non custodial payment card and will be able to be issued globally, and work anywhere in the world Visa is accepted.

The card will work with Apple Pay and Google Pay from day one and cost no fees to hold or fund the card other than gas. Users will pay a small usage fee (under 1%) when making transactions.

There is no cost to the Polkadot Treasury for the origination, set up and integration of this card program. All integration work in the Polkadot App will be covered by Ref #1573.

The launch of the payment card is subject to contractual and legal review.

Details

The Polkadot payment card will offer a seamless way to bridge the gap between digital assets in the Polkadot ecosystem and everyday spending. This payment card will greatly improve the offramping experience and increase the useability of the Polkadot ecosystem for payments and DEFI.

The Polkadot payment card also will provide users with greater financial flexibility and control over their money. As the Polkadot App builds out its feature set over the next 6 months, by adding the payment card, we see the functionality providing an alternative to traditional banking, especially for individuals already receiving an income in stablecoins.

The two main considerations for the payment card are:

A non custodial payment card - users should never have to lose custody for basic spending
Global issuance - almost anyone in the world should be able to register for the card inside their wallet or application.

After detailed research and due diligence spanning over several months, the PCF has selected Baanx as the card provider and issuer as they can offer an excellent experience with a non custodial card, and have global issuance. Baanx has very successfully launched cards for Metamask, Ledger, 1inch and World. They are very connected with Visa and Mastercard teams and are principal members of both the Visa and Mastercard programs through their parent company.

This payment card program would be managed by CL, a brand of Baanx. The Polkadot Community Foundation (PCF) will refer users to CL through the Polkadot Mobile App (https://polkadot.com/app), and will drive the initial integration, adoption and usage of the payment card.

This proposal seeks to gain community support for the following:

The Polkadot Community Foundation to work with Baanx to set up and manage a payment card program
Negotiating and signing any contractuals with Baanx or other companies required to launch the payment card
Co-ordination of any marketing or incentives programs to increase visibility of Polkadot and / or the card program.

Card Program

The payment card will be a debit card, using the Visa rails and will be Polkadot x Visa branded. The card will carry no other branding.

The card will be powered by solidity smart contracts using account abstraction and will allow users to hold and pay with USDC which is pre-authorised for spending using account abstraction. Other supported assets are planned to be added in the future.

The vast majority of other crypto payment cards on the market are custodial cards, meaning you have to “top up” your account which moves funds out of your wallet / your control, this massively increases the risk of loss of funds.

The payment card will allow payments made at any location that Visa is accepted, where the user pays a small fee (between 0.4% and 0.8% of the value of the transaction) for the payment. This fee will be country and currency dependent and is driven by Baanx. This covers all Baanx and Visa costs including the crypto to fiat offramping and merchant reconciliation. Any remaining funds left over after costs will be split 50/50 between the PCF and Baanx.

The user pays no monthly account fees, minimum fees or any other fees associated with having or managing the card. There is no fee (other than a gas fee) to approve the spending of funds for the card.

The card program will launch with a virtual payment card which works fully with Apple Pay or Google pay and in the future.

The payment card issued by CL via Baanx is a regulated product and subject to jurisdictional approval and standard OFAC Regulations globally. Each user who wishes to order a card will request it via an onboarding flow including industry standard KYC and AML review prior to issuance in their country of citizenship. Approval requirements vary by geography.

DAO Costs

There will be no cost to the Polkadot Treasury for the origination and setup of this card program. As per the relationship between Baanx and the PCF, there will also be no long term or ongoing maintenance cost. Baanx will be the ongoing and exclusive provider for the contract term (3 years).
Any ongoing relationship management costs are built into funding provided for Autonomous Projects managing the PCF.
Once launched the PCF may seek treasury funds for promoting the card program or offering incentives, for example: further cashback on the payment card, subsidising payment fees, or paying physical card costs.

Roadmap

Assuming the governance proposal is a success then the PCF and Baanx will work through the following items:

Baanx has already provided the PCF with a letter of intent to proceed with the commercial contract
Baanx and PCF to finalise the full contract within one month of signing the letter of intent
Baanx to deploy their smart contracts to a Polkadot testnet
The Polkadot Community Foundation will integrate the registration and card management flows
End to end testing
Production deployment and further testing
Launch ✨

We believe that upon the governance proposal passing community voting, we will be able to launch the card for the first round of VIP users in 6-12 weeks.

Full public launch will take place in the coming weeks afterwards, assuming there are no issues or delays with the deployment.

The card launch is also great timing to expand the Polkadot App from being USA only to covering other countries like the United Kingdom and Europe more broadly.

Edited

Status

Decision28d

Confirmation

Attempts

Tally

99.9%Aye

50.0%Threshold

0.1%Nay

Aye

≈46.85MDOT

Nay

≈68.66KDOT

0.0%
0.0%
Threshold
0.0%

Support

0.63%

≈10.03MDOT

Issuance

≈1.58BDOT

Votes

Nested

Flattened

Actions

Check how referenda works here.

Call

Metadata

Timeline6

Votes Bubble

Statistics

Comments

12mP...Eyoh

PolkaWorld votes AYE

Two-thirds in favor, one-third opposed.

Support Reason:

The Polkadot Payment Card is a great idea! It significantly lowers the barrier for DOT users to seamlessly move between crypto and fiat. Full support!

Concerns from the opposing view:

While this is clearly a promising proposal to drive mass adoption of Polkadot, we believe a few key points should be clarified:

Revenue Allocation Transparency
The proposal mentions that all surplus fees will be split 50/50 between PCF and Baanx. Since this initiative is part of a public ecosystem, we suggest exploring ways to allocate a portion of the revenue back to the Treasury or toward community incentives.
Cautious Approach to Future Funding Requests
Although this proposal does not request funds, it notes the possibility of future Treasury requests for cashback or fee subsidies. We recommend that any such proposals should be accompanied by clear KPIs and impact evaluation metrics—and that this expectation be explicitly stated within the current proposal.
Governance and Oversight Mechanisms
Since this proposal effectively authorizes PCF to act on behalf of the Polkadot community in a commercial partnership, we suggest PCF implement a basic reporting framework to ensure transparency on contract terms, user adoption, and operational progress.

Overall, we voted AYE.

You can view our full feedback here.

13zn...P5ju

Dear Proposer,

Thank you for your proposal. Our first vote on this proposal is ABSTAIN.

The Wish For Change track requires 60% quorum according to our voting policy v0.2, and any referendum in which the majority of members vote abstain receives an abstain vote. This proposal has received zero aye and three nay votes from ten available members, with six members abstaining. Below is a summary of our members' comments:

Members expressed a range of opinions, with many feeling uncertain about the proposal's value and its potential to enhance Polkadot's adoption. Several voters questioned the appropriateness of Autonomous Projects acting as proposers rather than neutral facilitators, seeking clarity on the demand for the proposal and the provider selection process. Concerns were raised about the transparency of the due diligence conducted, as relevant reports were not shared. Overall, a significant number of voters chose to abstain, reflecting their ambivalence and doubts regarding the initiative.

The full discussion can be found in our internal voting.

Please feel free to contact us through the links below for further discussion.

Kind regards,
Permanence DAO
Decentralized Voices Cohort IV Delegate

📅 Book Office Hours
💬 Public Telegram
🌐️ Web
🐦 Twitter
🗳️ Delegate

Edited

1y2q...bmxR

✅ Why vote YES
• Zero cost to the Treasury: Card program setup and ongoing operations require no Treasury funding.
• Non-custodial by design: Users maintain full control of their funds — no preloading, no account custody.
• Global access: Works worldwide via Visa, with Apple Pay and Google Pay support from day one.
• Reputable issuer: Baanx already powers cards for MetaMask, Ledger, and 1inch; regulatory and technical credibility is established.
• Revenue share for the ecosystem: Net usage fees are split 50/50 between Baanx and the PCF, creating a sustainable feedback loop.
• Strengthens Polkadot’s real-world utility: Bridges DeFi and stablecoins to everyday payments in a legally compliant way.
• Strategic for the Polkadot App: Seamless integration into the Polkadot Mobile App expands its use case globally.

⸻

❌ Why vote NO
• No open tender: The partnership with Baanx was pre-selected without an open competitive process.
• Regulatory complexity: KYC/AML and OFAC restrictions may limit access in certain regions or for privacy-conscious users.
• Revenue assumptions unclear: The 50/50 fee split may not yield significant returns to PCF or users without high volume.
• Centralized reliance: Long-term exclusivity with a single provider (Baanx) introduces vendor lock-in risk.
• Limited Polkadot ecosystem involvement: Aside from the app integration, broader parachain or DeFi project synergies are not yet detailed.

⸻

🎯 A low-risk, high-utility initiative that could bring real-world payment functionality to Polkadot users globally — but some may question the vendor selection process or long-term governance implications.