Nocturne Total Card Cost: Hidden Fees Beyond the $0.30 Per Payment

Nocturne charges a flat Nocturne $0.30 per payment for successful card payments. The main hidden costs beyond per-payment fee are funding-side blockchain network fee or gas fee amounts you pay before funding, plus possible chargeback or dispute outcomes in limited cases.

Direct answer: what can you pay beyond $0.30?

For ordinary spend with a Nocturne virtual debit card, the platform fee is simple: a $0.30 per payment fee. Nocturne has a $0.00 monthly fee, no bank account requirement, and no exchange login (not required) to mint or fund the card.

The full cost can still include costs outside the card payment itself:

• A blockchain network fee when you send crypto to fund the card.
• A gas fee if the asset and chain you use require gas.
• Possible failed transaction costs only if a payment attempt creates a chargeable card event under the applicable flow.
• Possible chargeback fees or dispute fees if a dispute or chargeback process produces a user-facing cost.

There is no separate “network charge” line item added by Nocturne for normal Visa or Mastercard spending. At checkout, the merchant sees a card transaction from a tokenized card number; Nocturne does not add another scheme fee on top of the $0.30 card payment fee for ordinary successful spend.

Nocturne’s card options are the Nocturne Shadow $25 and Nocturne Aurora $50. Those card prices do not change the per-payment cost: Nocturne $0.30 per payment remains the ordinary spend fee.

One price table: Nocturne costs vs. possible add-ons

Item	Price range	When it applies
Nocturne Shadow $25	$25 one-time card price	When you choose Shadow
Nocturne Aurora $50	$50 one-time card price	When you choose Aurora
Nocturne $0.30 per payment	$0.30 per successful payment	Ordinary card payment after the transaction completes
Monthly card fee	$0.00 monthly fee	No monthly maintenance fee
Card network or scheme line item	$0.00 added by Nocturne for ordinary spend	No separate pass-through network charge on standard purchases
Blockchain network fee	Variable; often small, chain-dependent	When sending crypto on-chain to fund the card
Gas fee	Variable; chain-dependent	When the funding chain requires gas
Failed transaction costs	$0.00 to limited case-dependent cost	If an attempted payment fails, declines, reverses, or creates a chargeable event
Chargeback fees	Case-dependent	Only if a chargeback process creates a user-facing fee or loss
Dispute fees	Case-dependent	Only when a dispute outcome creates a user-facing cost
Refund effect	Case-dependent	Merchant refund returns the purchase amount, but fees may not always unwind

What drives any “extra” costs up or down

Does Nocturne charge anything besides the $0.30 per payment?

Yes, but only in specific categories. Nocturne charges the card product price, such as Nocturne Shadow $25 or Nocturne Aurora $50, and then the $0.30 per payment fee for successful payments. It does not add a monthly fee.

Other costs are usually not Nocturne spend fees. They are funding fees from crypto transfer activity, or case-specific costs from reversals, disputes, chargebacks, or failed payment flows.

Are there network or scheme fees passed through to card spend?

For ordinary purchases, Nocturne does not add a separate Visa or Mastercard network-fee line item to the user. You pay the purchase amount plus the $0.30 per payment fee.

That distinction matters. Card networks and merchants may have their own economics behind the scenes, but the user-facing Nocturne checkout fee is not a stack of separate scheme charges. The user-facing rule is the flat Nocturne $0.30 per payment on successful payments.

Do I pay extra for authorization vs capture?

Nocturne card payments can involve authorization (auth) and capture, which are standard card-flow steps. Authorization (auth) checks whether the card can support the payment. Capture is when the merchant finalizes the charge.

Nocturne does not charge an extra fee simply because a payment has both authorization (auth) and capture. The ordinary user-facing fee is still the $0.30 per payment fee when the payment succeeds. If a merchant places a temporary authorization hold and never captures it, the final cost depends on whether the transaction becomes a completed payment or expires/reverses.

Do retries after declines add more charges?

Retries after declines do not automatically mean multiple $0.30 charges. If a retry is only a declined attempt and no payment succeeds, it should not be treated the same as several completed payments.

The cost can change if retries lead to multiple successful captures, separate merchant attempts, or a failed transaction that creates a chargeable event under the payment flow. For normal declined retries, the practical answer is: no successful payment, no ordinary $0.30 successful-payment charge.

When I fund the card with crypto, what fees can appear?

When you fund on-chain, the main cost is the blockchain network fee. If the chain requires gas, you may also see a gas fee. These are funding fees, not card-swipe fees.

For example, if you send crypto to fund a Nocturne virtual debit card and the chain fee is $0.18, your funding-side cost is $0.18 before you spend. If you later make one successful $20 purchase, the card-side fee is $0.30. Your total friction in that simple example is $0.48, excluding the $20 purchase amount and the card’s initial price.

Are blockchain gas fees paid by me or by Nocturne?

Blockchain gas fees are paid by the sender funding the card, not absorbed as part of Nocturne’s $0.30 per payment fee. If you fund on-chain, you should expect the wallet or chain to show the gas or network cost before you send.

Nocturne’s value is that you can fund on-chain without a bank account and without exchange login (not required). But the chain still charges its own transfer cost when applicable.

What happens if a transaction is disputed or results in a chargeback?

A dispute starts when a transaction is challenged. A chargeback is a formal card-network reversal process that can move funds back from the merchant side depending on the outcome.

If a dispute or chargeback is resolved cleanly in your favor, the purchase amount may be returned through a refund, reversal, or chargeback credit. If the outcome is unfavorable, the original payment may stand. If the process creates user-facing chargeback fees or dispute fees, those costs are case-dependent rather than a fee applied to every purchase.

Are chargeback/dispute fees applied to every purchase?

No. Chargeback fees and dispute fees are not part of ordinary no-KYC card spending. They apply only when a transaction enters a dispute or chargeback path and the outcome creates a cost.

Most completed purchases do not involve a dispute. For a normal successful purchase, the predictable Nocturne cost is the purchase amount plus Nocturne $0.30 per payment.

Do refunds reduce what I paid, including the $0.30?

A merchant refund generally returns the purchase amount that the merchant refunds. The $0.30 per payment fee may not always be reversed just because the merchant issues a refund, because the original card payment still occurred.

Example: you buy a $40 item and pay the $0.30 Nocturne fee. If the merchant refunds $40, your refunded purchase amount is $40. Whether the $0.30 is reversed depends on the specific transaction handling, not on the merchant refund amount alone.

Do Nocturne Shadow ($25) or Aurora ($50) change per-payment fees?

No. Nocturne Shadow $25 and Nocturne Aurora $50 are card product prices. They do not raise or lower the $0.30 per payment fee.

A Shadow user and an Aurora user making the same successful $18 purchase would each have the same card-payment fee: $0.30.

Example scenarios with real numbers

Example 1: online checkout with one successful payment

You mint a Nocturne virtual debit card, fund it, and buy a $32.00 subscription online.

• Merchant purchase: $32.00
• Nocturne fee: $0.30
• Extra card-network line item from Nocturne: $0.00
• Monthly fee: $0.00

Total charged for that purchase flow: $32.30, not counting any earlier blockchain network fee used to fund the card.

This is the cleanest use case: no-KYC onboarding, tokenized card number, online merchant checkout, one capture, and one flat payment fee.

Example 2: in-person attempt, decline, retry, then approval

You add the card to a compatible wallet for in-person payment and try to buy a $14.50 item. The first attempt declines. You retry once and the second attempt succeeds.

• First declined attempt: $0.00 ordinary successful-payment fee
• Second successful payment: $14.50
• Nocturne fee on successful payment: $0.30
• Total user-facing purchase cost: $14.80

Retries matter only when they become successful payments or create a special failed transaction event. A simple declined retry does not automatically multiply the $0.30 fee.

Example 3: crypto funding before a purchase

You fund on-chain before spending. Your wallet shows a $0.22 blockchain network fee. Then you make a $60.00 purchase.

• Funding transfer network cost: $0.22
• Purchase amount: $60.00
• Nocturne payment fee: $0.30
• Monthly fee: $0.00

Total economic cost around the spend: $60.52. Of that, $0.22 is the funding-side chain cost and $0.30 is the Nocturne card-payment fee.

If the funding gas fee were $1.10 instead of $0.22, the same purchase would cost $61.40 in total economic outlay: $60.00 purchase + $0.30 Nocturne fee + $1.10 gas.

Example 4: refund after a completed payment

You buy a $25.00 item, pay the $0.30 Nocturne fee, and the merchant later refunds the purchase.

• Original purchase: $25.00
• Nocturne fee: $0.30
• Merchant refund: $25.00
• Net after refund if the fee is not reversed: $0.30 cost remains

A refund is different from a never-captured authorization. A refund happens after a completed payment; a non-captured auth may simply expire or reverse depending on the merchant flow.

FAQ: network charges, chargebacks, and funding fees

Are there any hidden costs beyond the per-payment fee when using Nocturne?

The possible hidden costs beyond per-payment fee are mainly funding-side blockchain network fee or gas fee amounts, plus rare case-dependent dispute fees, chargeback fees, or failed transaction costs. Ordinary card spend does not carry a Nocturne monthly fee or a separate Nocturne network surcharge.

Do network fees apply to every purchase?

No. Network fees from blockchains apply when you fund the card on-chain, not to every card purchase. Nocturne does not add a separate card-network fee to ordinary Visa or Mastercard spend beyond the $0.30 per payment fee.

Do chargeback fees apply to every purchase?

No. Chargeback fees are case-dependent and only relevant if a transaction enters a chargeback process. A normal purchase that is accepted, captured, and not disputed does not create a chargeback fee.

Can I avoid funding fees completely?

You can reduce funding fees by choosing lower-cost funding conditions, but on-chain transfers usually require some blockchain network fee or gas fee. Nocturne does not require a bank account or exchange login, but the blockchain you use may still charge to move funds.

Is Nocturne still no-KYC if I use Visa or Mastercard rails?

Yes. Nocturne’s onboarding is no-KYC onboarding for the card product. The card runs on Visa or Mastercard acceptance rails, uses a tokenized card number, and lets the merchant see the card transaction rather than your full identity profile.