Curve Pay
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 5 of 17 mobile payment apps by recommenders
People recommend it as a tap-to-pay card that works on GrapheneOS and other de-Googled phones. The most common caveat is poor support and account verification problems.
People recommend it as a tap-to-pay card that works on GrapheneOS and other de-Googled phones. The most common caveat is poor support and account verification problems.
33 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 22
- criticize it
- 11
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 22 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works on GrapheneOS and de-Googled phones
“According to a few sources, Curve Pay works fine on rooted / non-attested Android devices.”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Donate to GrapheneOS” “I paid for my lunch with Curve Pay on GrapheneOS today.”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Motorola announces a partnership with GrapheneOS Foundation” “There's Curve Pay which works on GrapheneOS”
Comment from 2 Aug 2026 in “A big win for Android interoperability” - Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Motorola announces a partnership with GrapheneOS Foundation”
- Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon”
- Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Motorola announces a partnership with GrapheneOS Foundation”
Works for tap-to-pay
“Curve works and you can set that up as a replacement for Google Pay.”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Motorola GrapheneOS devices will be bootloader unlockable/relockable” “I paid for my lunch with Curve Pay on GrapheneOS today.”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Motorola announces a partnership with GrapheneOS Foundation” “you can use curve pay which can tap to pay”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon” - Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Motorola GrapheneOS devices will be bootloader unlockable/relockable”
Works across Europe
“Curve worked for me everywhere in Poland, Czechia, Germany, Austria, Romania and Sweden.”
Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “There's a high chance of devices being sold with GrapheneOS preinstalled in 2027” “there are other providers which work fine (Curve Pay I think works in all of EU)”
Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “GrapheneOS – Break Free from Google and Apple” “It seems to be European too which is another big plus.”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Motorola announces a partnership with GrapheneOS Foundation” - Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users”
Reliable in everyday use
“I use the Curve "proxy card" and it works fine.”
Comment from 3 Mar 2026 in “I've been running GrapheneOS on my Pixel Fold for over half a year” “Curve works on GrapheneOS. I use it weekly.”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Motorola announces a partnership with GrapheneOS Foundation” “Curve currently works great for me”
Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “There's a high chance of devices being sold with GrapheneOS preinstalled in 2027” - Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Motorola announces a partnership with GrapheneOS Foundation”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Poor support and verification problems
“I had a very weird (bad) experience with Curve support so I couldn't recommend it.”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon” “wasn't able to get through curve verification process. No reasonoble support.”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “GrapheneOS in 2027 available on high-end Motorola phones” “I had plenty of troubles with curve”
Comment from 19 Aug 2026 in “GrapheneOS in 2027 available on high-end Motorola phones” Privacy and biometric data concerns
“the problem I had with Curve is that this privacy policy is a bit trash, and their DPO was unresponsive when I tried to exercise some of my GDPR rights”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “Around a dozen banking apps began specifically permitting GrapheneOS” “I've never been comfortable with sending companies such biometric data.”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon” Requires Google services on some phones
“It requires Google Play services but with limited permissions.”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Motorola announces a partnership with GrapheneOS Foundation” “Curve has been requiring Google Services for months now it seems. Tried to get the thing working on my GrapheneOS the app won't start without them.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “Around a dozen banking apps began specifically permitting GrapheneOS”
Other mobile payment apps people recommend
The four most recommended other mobile payment apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wero | 84 | 96 | 47% | 11 | — | — |
| Apple Pay | 73 | 48 | 60% | 12 | — | — |
| Apple Wallet | 58 | 63 | 48% | 10 | — | — |
| Google Pay | 26 | 33 | 44% | 11 | — | — |
| Curve PayThis page | 22 | 11 | 67% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
34 of the 37 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the problem I had with Curve is that this privacy policy is a bit trash, and their DPO was unresponsive when I tried to exercise some of my GDPR rights”
“I have failed to get Curve running after installing GrapheneOS on a new device.”
“Curve has been requiring Google Services for months now it seems. Tried to get the thing working on my GrapheneOS the app won't start without them.”
“which can be linked to any card”
“Curve currently works great for me”
“Curve worked for me everywhere in Poland, Czechia, Germany, Austria, Romania and Sweden.”
“wasn't able to get through curve verification process. No reasonoble support.”
“I had plenty of troubles with curve”
“There's Curve Pay which works on GrapheneOS”
“According to a few sources, Curve Pay works fine on rooted / non-attested Android devices.”
“user identity verification involves”
“in Europe you can instead use Curve”
“you can use curve pay which can tap to pay”
“I had a very weird (bad) experience with Curve support so I couldn't recommend it.”
“I've never been comfortable with sending companies such biometric data.”
“the Play store reviews for Curve are attrocious, especially the most recent ones”
“doesn't depend on Google Play Services too”
“Yes you can use Curve pay”
“Basically the same thing with more features, the only catch is that they charge FX fees after surpassing a limit”
“Curve Pay works for tap-to-pay.”
“Curve works and you can set that up as a replacement for Google Pay.”
“I've heard that Curve is a viable alternative”
“I remember Curve being acused of some fishy things happening but I cannot tell you anymre which it was.”
“I use the Curve "proxy card" and it works fine.”
“I paid for my lunch with Curve Pay on GrapheneOS today.”
“Curve Pay works fine on GrapheneOS”
“Curve Pay refused to give me an account on my Murena FP6”
“It seems to be European too which is another big plus.”
“Curve pay works great btw!”
“Curve works on GrapheneOS. I use it weekly.”
“It requires Google Play services but with limited permissions.”
“they became really unreliable, especially when paying for public transport”
“Can confirm Curve Pay works (pixel 9a) at least with one Greek bank and Revilut.”
“there are other providers which work fine (Curve Pay I think works in all of EU)”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.