- HELOC cards let you swipe a credit card backed by your home equity at rates of 5–7%, compared to 22%+ for traditional credit cards.
- Only two companies — Aven (Visa) and Trovy (Mastercard) — currently offer HELOC cards. No major bank has entered the space.
- Structural barriers keep banks out: regulatory complexity, foreclosure liability, and the risk of cannibalizing their own high-margin credit card portfolios.
- Growth drivers are real — a historically wide rate spread, 80% of homeowners locked into sub-5% mortgages, and fintech infrastructure that makes the product possible.
- The core risk: your home is collateral for everyday spending. Treat a HELOC card like a mortgage product, not a credit card.
What Is a HELOC Card and How Does It Work?
A HELOC card is a home equity line of credit (HELOC) that you access through a credit card rather than wire transfers or checks. You swipe, tap, or shop online — just like a regular credit card — but the balance sits on a HELOC secured by your home.
That means two things. First, your interest rate is dramatically lower than a traditional credit card because the lender has your house as collateral. Second, if you stop making payments, the lender can foreclose. That trade-off is the defining feature of this product category.
Right now, only two companies offer true HELOC cards to consumers: Aven (a Visa card) and Trovy (a Mastercard). Both are venture-backed fintechs. Neither is a bank.
How Big Is the HELOC Card Market, Really?
The honest answer: small. Very small relative to either the credit card industry or the HELOC market.
Against those numbers, Aven's $3 billion in total credit lines issued since inception barely registers as a rounding error. Here's what we know about the two players:
| Metric | Aven | Trovy |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2019 | ~2024 |
| Card launched | 2022 | ~2025 |
| Total credit issued | $3B+ | Not disclosed |
| Trustpilot reviews | 6,000+ | ~72 |
| States available | 43 | Limited |
| Max credit line | $400K | $100K |
| Cash back | 2% unlimited | 1.5–3% tiered |
| Card network | Visa | Mastercard |
Aven is clearly the larger player. But even Aven's scale is modest — an estimated average credit line of roughly $50,000 per customer means approximately 60,000 accounts if $3 billion was fully drawn. That's a fraction of what a mid-size bank originates in HELOCs each quarter.
Matthew Goldman, founder of fintech consulting firm Totavi and a 15-year credit card industry veteran, predicted in early 2026 that more HELOC cards would emerge this year. His reasoning: millions of homeowners with pandemic-era 3% mortgages want cash but refuse to refinance at 6%+ (CPA Practice Advisor, February 2026). The demand exists. The supply hasn't caught up.
Why Haven't Big Banks Entered the HELOC Card Space?
If the math is so compelling, why isn't Chase, Wells Fargo, or Bank of America offering a HELOC card? Several structural barriers explain the gap.
Regulatory complexity. A HELOC card straddles two regulatory regimes. It's a credit card (regulated by the CARD Act, Truth in Lending Act credit card provisions, and card network rules from Visa or Mastercard) and a HELOC (regulated by state mortgage lending laws, requiring property liens, title work, and notarization). Most banks have separate teams for each — merging them into one product is operationally difficult.
Underwriting cost. A traditional credit card approval takes seconds and costs the issuer under $10. A HELOC requires property valuation, title search, lien recording, and often notarization — even with automation, that's hundreds of dollars per application. Aven and Trovy have reduced this with automated valuation models (AVMs) and digital notarization, but the unit economics still favor unsecured cards for most issuers.
Big banks already profit from high-margin unsecured credit cards at 20%+ APR. Offering a HELOC card at 7% to the same customers would directly cannibalize their most profitable product line. The incentive to launch a lower-rate alternative doesn't exist when you're already earning three times the margin on unsecured debt.
Foreclosure risk exposure. If a customer defaults on a regular credit card, the bank writes off the balance. If a customer defaults on a HELOC card, the bank may need to foreclose — a process that's expensive, slow, reputationally damaging, and subject to state-specific timelines that can stretch years.
State-by-state licensing. HELOC products require mortgage lending licenses in each state, with varying rules on fees, disclosures, and maximum rates. Aven still isn't available in 12 states, including major markets like Texas, New York, and Massachusetts (NerdWallet, March 2026).
What's Actually Driving Growth in This Category?
Despite the barriers, HELOC cards are growing for three reasons that aren't going away.
The rate spread is historically wide. The gap between average credit card APR (22.83%) and average HELOC rates (7.03% as of April 1, 2026, per Bankrate) is nearly 16 percentage points. On $30,000 in revolving debt, that spread translates to roughly $4,700 in annual interest savings. That's a powerful incentive — and about 44% of cardholders carry a balance month to month (Federal Reserve).
The mortgage rate lock-in effect. Approximately 80% of U.S. mortgages carry rates below 5% (Cotality, March 2026). Those homeowners won't refinance to access cash. A HELOC card gives them equity access without touching the first mortgage — in a card form factor they already understand.
Fintech infrastructure has caught up. Automated property valuation, digital notarization, and instant credit decisioning have slashed the time from application to card-in-hand. Aven closes in as few as three days (NerdWallet, January 2026). Trovy approves in as few as four minutes (LendEDU, March 2026).
The Risks Homeowners Should Understand
HELOC cards solve a real problem, but they introduce risks that traditional credit cards don't carry.
Your home is collateral for everyday spending. A coffee run, a grocery trip, a streaming subscription — all charged to a HELOC card put your home behind them. NerdWallet has cautioned that the card format could encourage spending patterns that erode equity (NerdWallet, March 2026). Falling behind could result in foreclosure.
Variable rates mean payment uncertainty. Both Aven and Trovy use variable rates tied to the prime rate (currently 6.75% as of April 2026). If the Fed raises rates, your interest charges go up automatically. Trovy's FixedPay feature and Aven's fixed-rate conversion options can help, but both add complexity.
The draw periods are shorter than traditional HELOCs. Aven offers a five-year draw period — half the 10-year industry standard. A shorter draw period means less time to access funds before the repayment phase begins.
Geographic limitations remain. Aven isn't available in Texas, New York, Massachusetts, and nine other states. Trovy has its own exclusions. If you live in an excluded state, you may have no HELOC card options at all.
What This Means for Homeowners Considering a HELOC Card
The HELOC card category is real, growing, and solving a genuine problem — but it's not mature. Here's how to think about it practically.
If you have significant credit card debt (say, $15,000+) and substantial home equity, a HELOC card could cut your interest rate by two-thirds or more. The math is hard to argue with. But treat it like a mortgage product, not a credit card. Budget for it. Pay it down aggressively. Don't let the convenience of a swipe obscure the fact that your home secures the balance.
If you're disciplined about spending and want flexible access to equity without a large upfront draw, a HELOC card may be a better fit than a traditional HELOC from a lender like Figure or Chase, both of which require 85–100% initial draws.
If you're in a state where HELOC cards aren't available, or if you need more than $100,000 in credit, a traditional HELOC remains your primary option. Compare current HELOC rates, which are at 3.5-year lows, to find the best terms for your situation.
