Most Romanians reach a credit card through their bank. Two problems appear at once: approval requires a minimum score of 530 to 580, and the annual fee climbs toward 50 to 80 lei even on cards labelled „free in the first year” once 12 months pass. AXI Card changes the arithmetic: a reloadable credit line up to 4,000 lei, zero fixed fees, approval in a few hours. Let us see what it is, when it pays off, and for whom.
The essential figures, before the detail.
What AXI Card is
AXI Card is a product of Credius IFN SA, registered with BNR under Law 93/2009, number RG-PJR-41-110208. Unlike the classic bank credit card, you do not pay on a fixed limit in instalments. It works as a credit line up to 4,000 lei: use it and you pay interest only on the sum drawn; repay and the limit returns fully available. The entry cost is zero. No issuing fee, no monthly administration fee, no annual fee.
The real costs sit on two slopes. The first: a daily interest of 0.19% on the sum actually used, equivalent to 5.9% a month over 31 days. The second: a penalty interest if you repay late, which rises 50% over the standard rate plus an added daily penalty. For 1,250 lei drawn and repaid in full within 30 days, the net cost is zero, because AXI grants 30 days without interest on the first usage cycle. The same sum over 60 days costs roughly 75 lei in cumulative interest. The formula is direct: days used beyond the 30 free ones × the sum × 0.0019.
0 lei fees: what falls in the category
The list of the zero fixed costs.
Card issuing fee: 0 lei. Monthly administration fee: 0 lei. Annual fee: 0 lei. Online transactions: 0 lei. Paying at a merchant: 0 lei. Delivery of the card to your address: 0 lei. Mobile app with push notifications for every transaction: 0 lei. On the card itself, AXI removes every fixed cost that the bank folds into the standard package. The only real cost is the daily interest on sums unpaid at maturity.
By comparison, the Banca Transilvania Visa Standard carries an annual fee of 28 lei, BCR Visa Standard asks 35 lei a year, and Raiffeisen Visa Gold credit card passes 65 lei. ING Card de Cumpărături is free in the first year, then rises to 22 lei annually. AXI never asks you for this fixed cost.
AXI Card vs Revolut Standard vs the bank cards
| Feature | AXI Card | Revolut Standard | BT Visa Standard | ING Card de Cumpărături |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | IFN credit line | Debit card + optional credit | Bank credit card | Bank credit card |
| Annual fee | 0 lei | 0 lei (base account) | 28 lei | 0 first year, 22 after |
| Maximum limit | 4,000 lei | up to 5,000 lei | 30,000 lei | 25,000 lei |
| APR (DAE) | 85.04% | n/a on debit | 23.9% | 21.9% |
| Interest-free period | 30 days | n/a | 55 days | 56 days |
| Minimum score accepted | ~480 | not required | ~550 | ~520 |
| Approval | a few hours | instant (debit) | 3-7 days | 4-15 minutes |
| Documents | ID + account statement | ID + selfie | ID + income certificate | ID + auto-detected income |
Read the table in two directions. The bank cards carry an APR (DAE, the effective annual rate) three to four times lower and an interest-free period nearly double. They seem to win comfortably. Reality is different: if your score is under 550, the bank turns you down. AXI accepts scores from 480 upward, the real difference for a large segment of users. Revolut Standard asks for no score, but advances money only through a separate product („Revolut Pay Later”) still in pilot in Romania in mid-2026.
Whom it suits (and whom it does not)
Maria Popescu, former card products analyst at a large commercial bank 2018-2022: „The difference between a classic credit card and a credit line like AXI is that you control exactly when you use it. The bank gives the approved limit, but interest applies only on what you used. The typical case is a car repair of 2,300 lei drawn for 14 days until payday. Repay it then, and your cost is zero. Leave a sum outstanding beyond 30 days, and the daily interest builds up fast. The biggest risk I saw is not the card, it is using it to replace a personal-needs loan: people who draw 3,500 lei and pay the monthly minimum for 6 to 8 months, doubling the amount owed.”
Andrei, 32, an IT project manager in Cluj, net monthly income 7,840 lei, score 612, no active loans. He used AXI Card for an unexpected cost: 1,450 lei for a boiler repair, 12 days before payday. The cost: 1,450 × 0.0019 × 12 = 33.06 lei interest. He received his salary and repaid in full. Total cost of drawing on the line: 33 lei for 12 days of financing. A personal-needs loan at BCR or BT for that sum would have been impossible, since the bank required at least 1,500 lei over 3 months with a separate processing fee of 1.8%.
The ideal profile emerges clearly from the data.
Use AXI Card if: you have a stable but fluctuating income (self-employed, freelance, variable commissions), a score between 480 and 550 where the bank turns you down, and an occasional need for sums under 4,000 lei over short periods (under 30 days). Avoid AXI Card if: you need credit beyond 3 months (a personal-needs loan is cheaper), the sum is fixed and you know exactly when you will repay, or you already use the card for monthly costs not covered by the salary.
Practical traps
Three traps come up often. The first: the 30 days without interest apply only if you repay the used sum in full by the maturity date. The monthly minimum payment (10% of the sum) forfeits this benefit retroactively across the whole interval. The second: the daily interest starts from the transaction day, not the maturity date. If you draw on the 3rd and maturity falls on the 30th, you have already used 27 days when you pay. The third: repeated use across cycles builds a revolving balance that erodes your score at Biroul de Credit (the Credit Bureau) over the medium term.
Your rights are protected by OUG 50/2010. You have 14 calendar days from signing to withdraw without justification, paying only the interest for the days used. Partial or full early repayment generates no fee on this product. You verify AXI's legitimacy as a registered IFN by going to bnr.ro at the Special Register of IFNs and searching for Credius IFN.
Read on
See our credit card comparator with live rates, how the APR is calculated and your rights as a card user.