Frequently Asked Questions

The SafetyWing card is a worldwide prepaid debit card that lets you pay for covered medical expenses up to US$250 without paying out of pocket first, allowing you to skip the reimbursement step. Here's how it works:

• Attend your appointment and tap your phone to pay with the card

• Upload your supporting documents to the auto-generated claim in your dashboard

• Once your claim is approved, your card limit is restored

A few things to keep in mind:

• The card is only available to the main policyholder

• Only use it for covered expenses — using it for non-covered items will reduce your card limit without it being restored

• If a claim is denied, the amount will be permanently deducted from your card limit

All our members on the following health plans have access to a SafetyWing debit card:

• Nomad Insurance Complete

• Nomad Citizen

• Remote Health

If you are eligible for a card, you will automatically receive an invitation by email once your coverage is active. Simply follow the instructions in the email to get started.

We don’t yet offer this feature for members on our travel medical plan, Nomad Insurance Essential.

No, you don’t need to pay an additional fee to get your card, as the costs are embedded in the price of your plan.

Once you go through setup, your card is available to add to your virtual wallet and use immediately.

If you have ordered a physical card, it typically takes 2-8 weeks to arrive, depending on your location.

Card deliveries to some locations can take several weeks due to delays with local postal services. Once your shipment is handed off to a local postal service, the tracking code on your shipment may not update regularly, or in some cases, it may be inaccurate, but the shipment is most likely still on its way.

However, if you suspect that something has gone wrong with your shipment, get in touch with us via live chat and we can cancel your order and ship you a new card.

Your account passcode and card PIN are both 4-digit security codes, with different uses.

Account passcode: enter it in our website to see your card details in your dashboard. It provides an extra layer of security.

Card PIN: enter it in a card machine at the physical point of sale.

They can be the same number to make it easy to remember, but we suggest using two different numbers for the best security.

You can be locked out of your card for one of the following reasons:

• You have too many pending expenses not yet validated by uploading supporting documents to the auto-generated claim

• You have had too many card-paid claims declined

• A combination of the two

If you have pending expenses, upload your supporting documents as soon as possible. Otherwise, get in touch with us via live chat to explore options.

As soon as you realize your card is lost, visit your card dashboard and click “Report lost or stolen.” In this case we will immediately cancel the card and send you another one with new details.

Yes, once you've received your card, please activate it via your SafetyWing dashboard under 'My SafetyWing card' in the left side menu. You will need to enter the last 4 digits of your card number to activate your card.

With your card, you can access covered healthcare services without ever having to pay out of your own pocket. You can pay for any appointment, service, treatment or medication that is covered by your health plan under the preset limit.

This can include a check-up with your doctor, a set of glasses, a virtual therapy session, and more. For more expensive procedures and hospital services above this limit, we recommend asking for direct billing via your SafetyWing dashboard or app.

Your card will work at most places who provide healthcare services and accept Mastercard debit.

We check the payment information so non-healthcare related charges will not go through, such as restaurants or entertainment venues. In certain cases, it may be declined for legitimate health expenses due to how the merchant is categorized.

Yes, you can use your card for online transactions for medical expenses that are covered under your health plan. You can view your card details by clicking on the 'My payment card’ menu and 'View card details'.

You should be able to swipe, tap or insert your card if you have a physical one. Tap is your only option if you are using a virtual card.

No, the card is meant to be used strictly for expenses that are covered under your health plan. Due to our filters, it may not even be accepted at non-healthcare providers or vendors.

You can use the card to pay for a family member’s health expense covered under their health plan. Be sure to list their name in the claims form when validating the expense.

At the moment, we can only issue one card per account, so your family members will not be able to receive their own cards.

Right now, SafetyWing cards can only be used for expenses covered under our full health plans: Nomad Insurance Complete, Nomad Citizen, or Remote Health.

If a claim is denied for something you paid with card, that amount is permanently deducted from your card limit. We typically do not claw back small overages in sub-limits, as mistakes or accidents can always happen. However, if you reach a sub-limit and use the card again for that same benefit, the associated claim would be denied, and your card balance will not be restored to its full limit. If you think an expense might exceed your remaining amount, please submit a claim instead of paying with the card, so the covered portion can be applied correctly. We may take action in cases where we suspect deliberate misuse or fraud, like repeated non-covered purchases, attempts to go over limits, or creating a new claim for reimbursement after paying with the card. This may include deducting the overpaid amount from your next claim, suspending your card, or cancelling your plan.

There can be a number of reasons why your card was declined:

• The amount was over your spending limit

• The provider is not listed as a healthcare-related merchant

• ATM or cash back transactions are not allowed

• The card hasn't been activated

You will receive an email with a reason why your card was declined. In the meantime, please use your personal card and make a claim for reimbursement.

If you’re still not sure why your card was declined, get in touch with us via live chat or email.

Yes, there is a maximum spending limit, which currently is US$250. So, your card won't work if you're trying to pay for a service above this limit. As part of our ongoing effort to improve your experience, we are actively working to increase these limits in the future.

If your medical expense is above US$250, you can request direct billing via your dashboard.

You can check your card balance in your SafetyWing app.

Every time you use your SafetyWing card, you need to upload the relevant documents to the auto-generated claim. Only once the expense has been approved will your spending limit will be reset.

If you use your card for something that is not covered under the policy, you risk losing access to your card. Expenses that are not approved will reduce your available card limit.

You can view your SafetyWing card PIN by logging into your dashboard and clicking on 'My payment card' in the left side menu. Click on 'Show card details’ and enter your passcode to view the PIN.

You can create a new passcode! Visit 'My payment card' and click on 'Show card details', then click on 'Create a new one.'

As soon as you realize your card is lost, visit 'My payment card' and click “Freeze card” so you or anyone else can't use it, then let us know that you need a new one.

A claim will be auto-generated for you, but we still need supporting documents to check whether your expense is covered under your plan.

1. A card claim is auto-generated in your claims dashboard. Do not create a new claim from scratch.

2. Upload supporting documents and write a short description of what you paid for and why. This enters our usual claim review.

3. We process the claim with either an outcome of approved or denied. We may get in touch with you if we need more supporting documents.

Since we have most of the basic information already (date of service, location, payment amount) the process is much shorter, meaning you only have to write a description of what you paid for and why, as well as the usual required supporting documents:

• Medical report(s)

• Itemized invoice showing what you paid for

• Prescription (if applicable)

• Test and lab results (if applicable)

• Treatment plan (if applicable)

If you try to pay for something above your card limit, the transaction will not go through. If your treatment costs more than that, you can still pay by combining your SafetyWing card with your personal payment method.

We require pre-approval for treatments that cost US$500 or more, mental health, and physical therapy. Direct billing is available for treatments of US$250 or more, so in those cases, we can arrange payment with the provider for you.

Card limits are only restored once previous expenses have been approved. If a claim is denied, that amount will be permanently deducted from your card. This is why it is so important for you to be sure that a certain expense will be covered before using your card to pay for it.

If you’re not sure whether something is covered, you can check by reading your plan document or requesting pre-approval in your dashboard.

Your expense may only be partially approved if you’ve reached a sub-limit on a specific category, such as vision or dental, or certain items on your invoice are not covered– this is ok and your card access will not be affected. 

If you use the card again for something that would fall under the same category after you already reached its sub-limit for the policy year, your claim would be denied, which will risk your access to the card.

If you can't see the claim on your claims dashboard after using your SafetyWing card, or you cannot upload any supporting documents to the claim, please Customer Care.