The 13 Best Card Holders for Folks Mulling Minimalism (2024)

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Call them what you want — card cases or card holders — but the trustworthy wallets below are the best ways to carry cash, plastic and a few extra business cards — but little more. Think about it: a slimmer wallet that’s easier to access is faster at the register and more comfortable in transit. Long gone are the days of George Costanza-sized cash canisters.

Why Carry a Card Holder?

As they say, less is more, and prolonged periods of sitting on a thick wallet could actually cause back problems. It’s true. There’s even a name for it: Wallet Neuritis.

It was first recognized in 1978, but it remains a rather taboo diagnosis. Usually, patients are told they have a pinched sciatic nerve, resulting in a sciatica diagnosis. Wallet Neurosis, on the other hand, comes on the same way — “long-standing use of rear pocket wallet may compress and sensitize ipsilateral sciatic nerve” — but doesn’t go as far, essentially just “generating features resembling lumbago sciatica.”

Either way, back pain sucks, and an easy way to exacerbate other problems is to carry a compact card holder instead — and in your front pocket. If you must keep even card holders at the rear, take them out before you sit down. You can put your extras in a crossbody bag.

Less Is More

There’s a method to Japanese organizing consultant Marie Kondo‘s tidiness: the KonMari Method. It asks subscribers to keep the items close to them and “discard items that no longer spark joy.” In the world of wallets, the joy-suckers are receipts, old punch cards and reward program fobs for stores you no longer shop at.

With a card holder, you really can’t keep any of this excess weight. The limited space acts as an actual advantage in this regard, reducing the amount of room for this unique type of clutter. Card holders can often hold a maximum of 15 cards, and few of them offer space for sizable wads of cash. Your emergency bills will surely fit, but it’s easier to do just about everything with our phones these days, meaning you can probably access your reward program cards, work ID and even vaccine card there, too. (Go ahead, take them out of your current wallet.)

How We Tested

Gear Patrol Staff

We have used a number of the wallets on this list, which were sourced using insights from our personal shopping experiences, tips from experts and broader shopper feedback. We accounted for a number of consumer sets, finding wallets for folks who carry them in their front pocket, want to protect themselves from possible RFID fraud or simply want a slimmer tool for carrying their cash and cards.

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Best Overall Card Holder

Anson Calder Card Wallet

• $140.00 at ansoncalder.com

• Material: Leather
• No. of cards: 12
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: Yes

Anson Calder’s ultra-sleek Card Holder comes with two slots for cards and a center stash spot for cash. The stash spot is super small, but the card slots are not — they stretch, as most leather-based pockets do, the more you use them.

Plus, pushing them out is easier with this wallet than others, because you have the easy access thumb spot at the bottom. But our tester found it wasn’t all that easy to access ones at the center without removing the entire stack. “The open slot for sliding them out makes a ton of sense,” they said, “but not if you frequently use all of your cards.”

Shinola

Best Upgrade Card Holder

Shinola Five Pocket Card Case

• $150.00 at Shinola

• Material: Leather
• No. of cards: 10
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

Shinola uses vachetta leather, a type of lightly treated Italian leather favored by more than a few famous bag makers, for its Five Pocket Card Case, which has the Shinola logo on one side and a unique production number on the other. The liner inside is also leather, but there’s an additional layer that helps protect against RFID fraud.

herschel supply co.

Best Affordable Card Holder

Herschel Charlie Wallet

• $22.00 at herschel.com

• Material: Fabric
• No. of cards: 12
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

Herschel’s Charlie Wallet is woven from hard-wearing fabric, with a contrasting striped liner made from the same material. There are a total of five pockets, two on each side and one in the center. It’s available in 27 different colors, ranging from solid black (like this) to a sunflower print.

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Best Metal Card Holder

Ridge Wallet — Aluminum

• $76.00 at ridge.com

• Material: Aluminum
• No. of cards: 12
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: Yes

The Ridge Wallet can hold up to 12 cards in its RFID-blocking aluminum body, but it adjusts so it can stay tightly wrapped around one card if that’s all you carry. It comes with an elastic strap to hold your cash, and it is easy to disassemble for cleaning.

Above all else, our tester said the Ridge was the best metal card holder because it was simple — fuss-free and function-forward.

“Perhaps even more so than some of the other picks on this list, the beauty of the Ridge lies in its simplicity,” they said. “Machined aluminum plates held together by a tight elastic band secure up to a dozen essential cards, while an additional band or a money clip (your choice) holds neatly tri-folded bills on the outside. The whole unit is incredibly streamlined, durable and… haptically satisfying to use.”

But there is one major problem: organizing the cards within. “If I had one complaint,” another tester added, “it’s that it’s hard to organize your cards in any meaningful way. You kind of just have to stack them in the order you use/need them.”

Some cards, but especially paper ones (business cards, vaccine cards, reward cards, fray, though, because the edges of your cards are exposed. Laminated cards will fare well, but not ones that break down faster (like paper or cardboard).

Read more about the Ridge Wallet in our dedicated review.

Huckberry

Best Fabric Cardholder

Pioneer Carry Molecule Cardholder

• $65.00 at Huckberry

• Material: Fabric
• No. of cards: 4-6
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

Our testers love Pioneer Carry’s Molecule Cardholder. In fact, one said they “will probably never buy from another brand as long as Pioneer is in business.” Here’s why.

“While the break-in period is pretty significant — it took me a couple of months to stop struggling to get my cards out — and the internal space is somewhat limited (roughly 4-8 cards or 4 cards plus a few cash bills), I love this cardholder,” our tester said. “It’s fabric, so it contours to your carry, especially over time, but the fabric is a proprietary 10XD fabric that’s, as far as I can tell, pretty much indestructible in normal use. I’ve never so much as blemished it.

It’s waterproof, puncture and scratch-resistant, and it looks outstanding front to back. Also the stitching and reinforcements are phenomenal — I’ve never once worried about a seam busting.”

Another tester turned to Pioneer Carry when their classic leather bi-fold broke. They wanted an option they “never have to think about.”

“I have a bigger travel wallet for overseas trips or days when I need to carry cash,” our tester admits. “But for the other 99 percent of the time, this is the wallet I carry so I never have to think about my wallet.”

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Best Made in USA Card Holder

Tanner Goods Journeyman

• $85.00 at tannergoods.com

• Material: Leather
• No. of cards: 10
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

Made from durable, 3.5oz natural tooling leather in the US, the Tanner Goods Journeyman boasts just enough room — four slots and a central pocket — for your cards and some folded bills — nothing more. But it’ll earn quite the patina with time. Be warned, this lightly colored leather will darken with use.

Like most of the brand’s Portland-made goods, it is offered in a range of different dyes, too. Monograms can be added for an extra $20.

Leatherology

Best Slim Card Holder

Leatherology Slim Card Case

• $50.00 at Leatherology

• Material: Leather
• No. of cards: 8
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

Made from full-grain leather, Leatherology’s Slim Card Case lives up to its name. It has four slots for cards, a center stash pocket for cash and a little more. It does come in a bunch of colors, though, as well as two types of leather, Standard and Premium ($10 more), and RFID-blocking ($5 more) and non-RFID-blocking.

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Best Bi-Fold Card Holder

Billykirk No. 427 Bi-Fold Card Case

• $85.00 at billykirk.com

• Material: Leather
• No. of cards: 12
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

This wallet features three pockets, two of which are fashioned with oval cutouts for accessing frequently used cards. Oiled and edged by hand, each wallet is finished with rugged wax cording. Plus, you can add an embossed monogram for $15 more.

Filson

Best Front Pocket Card Holder

Filson Front Pocket Cash & Card Case

• $105.00 at Filson

• Material: Leather
• No. of cards: 6
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

Only your basic necessities will fit inside this Filson wallet — but that’s OK. You don’t need to carry much more than some cash and a few cards anyway. Made from hard-wearing bridle leather, this wallet is curved to complement the bottom of most front pockets.

Ralph Lauren

Best Envelope Card Holder

RRL Concho Leather Wallet

• $185.00 at Ralph Lauren

• Material: Leather
• No. of cards: 12
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

RRL’s Concho Card Wallet arrives with a patina one would usually have to work years for. Crafted from premium vegetable-tanned Italian leather, it boasts a snap button closure, four card slots and a debossed branded logo on the back.

Bellroy

Best Phone Case Card Holder

Bellroy Phone Case 3 Card

• $79.00 at Bellroy

• Material: Leather
• No. of cards: 3
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

Is a wallet just too much? For some, it might be. As such, Bellroy made the Phone Case 3 Card, a, well, phone case that can hold up to three cards. They make one for the newest iPhone all the way down to the iPhone 11. Inside, there’s also a spot for a second SIM card as well as the tool to remove it.

The case itself is made from leather and the inner liner is a soft, velvet-like material. To charge your phone, though, at least for a MagSafe charger, you have to take the case off.

Todd Snyder

Best Zip-Up Card Holder

Ettinger Capra Mini Pouch

• $170.00 at Todd Snyder

• Material: Leather
• No. of cards: 10
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

Unless they fold or snap shut, most wallets never fully close. Ettinger’s Capri Mini Pouch can, courtesy of a zipper that runs the length of its top side. The wallet itself is made from goat leather, a material lauded for its durability. Plus, its natural grain hides scratches and stains pretty well.

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Best Small Batch Card Holder

Postalco 10038 Card Holder

• $98.00 at

• Material: Leather, pressed cotton
• No. of cards: 10
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

This narrow, vertically fashioned bifold from Tokyo-based brand Postalco features two internal pockets made from water-resistant pressed cotton, which are attached by a single piece of calfskin leather. The wallets are available in a number of colors, including signal red, olive green, navy blue and black (pictured here).

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Best Vegan Card Holder

The Good Business Puffer Card Holder

• $45.00 at thegoodbusiness.store

  $65.00(31% off)

• Material: Vegan Leather
• No. of cards: 10
• Holds cash: Yes
• RFID: No

The Good Business is a brand new, well, business. Right now, they only make one thing: this vegan leather puffer wallet. Officially called the Puffer Card Holder, this wallet is water resistant and feels sort of matte to the touch. It also has the unique squish only puffers do, a sensation afforded by the stitching pattern. When loaded, the cards are still easy to access, but you don’t need to worry about them slipping out.

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