The Fee Types That Actually Matter
Before the comparison, it helps to understand what fee types exist — because different providers bury costs in different places:
- Entry / purchase fee: Charged when you buy metal through the platform. Some call it a "spread."
- Annual custody / storage fee: Percentage of your holdings charged per year for vaulting.
- Card transaction fee: Charged each time you use the card. Sometimes a flat fee, sometimes a percentage.
- Transfer / send fee: Charged when you move metal to another account or send it to a recipient.
- FX conversion fee: Charged when transacting in a currency other than your account's base currency.
- Withdrawal / redemption fee: Charged when you cash out to fiat or redeem physical metal.
- Inactivity fee: Charged if your account has no activity for a defined period.
- Minimum monthly fee: A floor charge regardless of account size.
Side-by-Side Fee Breakdown
Figures based on publicly available terms as of April 2026 and competitive research. Annual custody fees are stated as % of holdings value.
| Fee Type | Kinesis | Glint Pay | VeraCash | GoldMoney | Argentum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry / Purchase fee | 1.99% | 0% | 7% (silver) | 0.5–2% | 0% |
| Annual custody fee | 0% | 0.24% | 0% | $120/yr minimum | 0.25–0.5% |
| Card transaction fee | 1.99% card purchase | 0.5% conversion | 0% | Varies | 0.25% at spot |
| Transfer / Send fee | 0.45% per transfer | Included in 0.5% | 0% | $25 wire fee | 0% |
| FX conversion fee | Varies | 0.9% foreign | 0% outside EU | Varies | 0% (spot only) |
| Withdrawal / redemption | Market spread | Market spread | 0% | 3.3–4.3% discount | Spot price |
| Inactivity fee | None | None | ~€50/yr after 6 mo | None | None |
| Silver card? | No | No (gold only) | No | No | Yes — .999 fine silver |
| Geographic availability | Global | US/UK/EU | EU only | 150+ countries | US (Texas-first) |
What $10,000 in Silver Actually Costs You Per Year
Abstract percentages are hard to reason about. Here's a concrete scenario: you hold the equivalent of $10,000 in silver (approximately 123 oz at $81/oz). You make 24 card transactions per year averaging $50 each ($1,200 total spending). What does each platform cost you?
On a $10,000 silver holding over 5 years, the difference between the cheapest and most expensive option is $1,250–$3,250 in cumulative fees. That's money that could have remained in your silver position — appreciating with the metal instead of flowing to intermediaries.
Reserve your spot — first 500 get priority access.
Argentum: 0.25–0.5% annually. No entry fee, no minimums, no hidden charges. The lowest cost in the category.
The Hidden Costs Nobody Talks About
Entry Friction Is the Worst Tax
VeraCash charges 7% to purchase silver through their platform. On a $10,000 deposit, you start $700 in the hole before you've made a single transaction. That's not an annual fee — it's a permanent drag on your position that you can never recover unless silver appreciates by more than 7% before you exit.
Kinesis charges 1.99% entry. Still meaningful: $199 on a $10,000 purchase. Argentum charges 0% entry — you deposit your own physical silver at its current market value.
The GoldMoney Minimum Fee Problem
GoldMoney charges a minimum of $10/month ($120/year) for their personal accounts regardless of balance. If you hold $2,000 in silver, that's a 6% annual fee before any transaction costs. For small-to-medium holders, GoldMoney is structurally expensive.
Their user reviews on Trustpilot confirm this: the most common complaint is fee complexity and unexpected charges. Reviewers cite "hidden" storage fees, slow withdrawals (3–6 business days), and a cumbersome account upgrade path between personal and business accounts.
Kinesis's Yield Is Not Free Money
Kinesis advertises a "yield" on your holdings — monthly payments in gold or silver funded by transaction fee revenue sharing. This sounds appealing. But the math matters: Kinesis's transaction fees are high enough that the "yield" is largely returning money you already paid in. A 1.99% card purchase fee with a 0.5–1% yield on holdings creates circular economics. You're not earning yield — you're getting a partial rebate on fees.
Glint is cleaner than Kinesis on this — no yield gimmick, simple 0.24% annual fee, 0.5% on card transactions. But Glint is gold-only, which excludes the silver market entirely and misses the regulatory tailwinds of Texas HB 1056.
Fee Structures That Actually Make Sense
The simplest fee model is the most trustworthy one: a small annual storage fee (to cover vault and insurance costs) and a small transaction fee when you spend (to cover settlement costs). Everything else — entry fees, minimum charges, inactivity penalties, FX spreads — is margin extraction dressed as necessity.
Argentum's model: 0.25–0.5% annual custody, 0.25% transaction fee at spot, no other charges. That's the entire fee schedule. No entry fee, no minimum, no inactivity charge, no FX markup, no redemption penalty.
On a $10,000 deposit over one year with moderate usage, that's approximately $50–$75 in total costs. Every other platform in this comparison charges more — some by a factor of 6–14×.
What You Should Ask Before Choosing a Precious Metals Card
- What is the entry fee? (Any fee when you first deposit or purchase metal.)
- What is the annual custody fee? (Percentage of holdings charged per year.)
- What is the card transaction fee? (Percentage or flat fee on each purchase.)
- Is there a minimum monthly fee? (Relevant for smaller holdings.)
- What is the redemption cost? (What do they charge when you exit?)
- Is there an inactivity fee? (Relevant if you hold but don't spend frequently.)
- Is the silver allocated and audited? (Or is it commingled and pooled?)
- Which metal is supported? (Gold-only excludes silver's unique regulatory position.)
Understanding how silver-backed banking works before selecting a platform will help you avoid paying for complexity you don't need.
Reserve your spot — first 500 get priority access.
Argentum: 0.25–0.5% annually, no entry fees, no minimums, no hidden charges. The lowest-cost silver banking card. Launching with the Texas HB 1056 infrastructure in 2027.