Understanding Your Solid Card: Savings Mode vs Borrow Mode

Your Solid Card supports two ways of spending:

• Savings Mode (Direct Pay) – spend using your available balance
• Borrow Mode – borrow USDC against your yield-bearing savings (soUSD) and spend without selling

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Savings Mode (Direct Pay): Spend Your Balance

Savings Mode lets you spend using the USDC on your Solid Card balance. Purchases are deducted directly from that balance.

How it works

• You spend using your USDC card balance
• Transactions are deducted instantly
• No borrowing, no interest

Best for

• Daily purchases
• When you already have USDC on your card
• When you don't want to borrow

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Borrow Mode: Keep Your Savings, Spend Anyway

Borrow Mode is a self-repaying credit line. Instead of selling your savings, you use your soUSD as collateral to borrow USDC at a low rate, and your savings keep earning yield while you spend. The yield your savings generate can go toward repaying what you have borrowed.

How it works

1. Your savings act as collateral. Your soUSD backs the credit extended to your card. You don't sell anything to fund spending.
2. You spend with your card normally. Borrow Mode works in the background at any of the 200M+ merchants worldwide.
3. Your savings keep earning. Because you haven't sold, they continue compounding yield while you spend.
4. You repay anytime. Repay by depositing funds into Solid. Your ongoing yield also reduces your outstanding balance over time.

Best for

• When you don't want to sell your savings
• When you want to keep earning yield
• Larger purchases

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Example

1. Deposit $1,000 into Solid Savings
2. Your $1,000 starts earning yield
3. Borrow up to $700 USDC against it
4. USDC is sent to your Solid Card
5. Spend anywhere Visa is accepted

Your original $1,000 continues earning yield in the background. No selling, no withdrawing, no breaking compounding.

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How interest works on borrowed balances

If you borrow, the borrowed amount begins accruing interest immediately.

• Borrow APR ≈ 0.9% (variable, adjusts with pool usage)
• Interest starts immediately and updates in real time
• No billing cycles, no minimum repayments, no origination fees
• Repay anytime

Because your savings may be earning more than your borrow cost (for example, around 6.5% APY on soUSD versus ~0.9% to borrow), your savings can grow faster than your borrowing cost. If you borrow $100 for a full year at 0.9%, you would owe approximately $100.90.

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How do I repay?

When you repay, your loan balance decreases, your locked soUSD collateral is released, and your card balance stays the same. Once fully repaid, you can withdraw your savings at any time.

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What will I see in the app?

• Current borrowed balance
• Accrued interest (real time)
• Current borrow rate
• Available borrowing power

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Safety & borrow limits

• Borrow limit ≈ 70% LTV (conservative by design)
• Collateral: soUSD, a stable, yield-bearing asset designed to steadily increase in value
• Liquidation risk is extremely low, and safer than borrowing against volatile assets like ETH
• If your collateral ratio approaches the limit, Solid may reduce available credit or notify you to add funds

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How to enable Borrow Mode

1. Open the Solid app
2. Go to your Card settings
3. Select "Borrow Mode" and follow the setup steps

Your Solid Card always holds USDC, so from the card network's perspective it looks like a normal USDC balance. The borrowing logic happens entirely within Solid, which keeps spending seamless. For questions about your borrow position or collateral health, contact support via in-app chat.