Top 10 Credit Card Issuing Platforms [Comparison Guide 2026]

In today’s digital age, payment cards have become an essential part of our daily lives. With the rise of e-commerce and mobile payments, businesses of all sizes are looking for ways to issue payment cards to their customers quickly and efficiently. 

However, with so many credit card issuers available, it can be challenging to choose the best one for your business needs. That’s why we explore the top 10 card issuing platforms, their key features, advantages, and limitations to find the right solution for your payment business. 

In 2026, card issuing is best understood as a layer within a broader financial system. For businesses launching or expanding card programmes, the underlying technology foundation plays a decisive role in how efficiently those programmes can be built, scaled, and adapted over time. 

Things to keep in mind when choosing a card issuing provider

When looking for a reliable card issuing company, it’s important to ensure that they meet all the requirements that are important to your business. One crucial factor to consider is how well they manage your credit card account, as effective account management can significantly impact customer service and overall satisfaction. Below, there are some important things to know.

Functionality of the platform 

Security and fraud prevention

Compliance and regulations

Make sure the provider, whether a bank or credit union, is compliant with all relevant regulations and industry standards, including PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). You should also check if they have a history of regulatory violations or data breaches.

Fees and costs

Understand the provider’s fee structure, including any setup fees, per-transaction fees, or monthly fees. Ensure you understand the total cost of ownership and how it compares to other providers.

Reporting and analytics

Evaluate the provider’s reporting and analytics capabilities, including the level of detail and frequency of reporting. This can help you monitor and optimize your card program.

Consider these factors, including technology platform, security and fraud prevention, cardholder experience, fees and costs, reporting and analytics, customer support, reputation and track record, compliance and regulations, you can make an informed decision that meets your business needs and helps you achieve your goals. 

Top 10 card issuers platforms 2026

Each provider has unique features and capabilities, making them stand out in their own way. By carefully analyzing the strengths of each platform, businesses can make informed decisions when selecting a provider that best suits their needs. Let’s take a closer look at some of the leading card issuing providers in the market today.

Marqeta

Headquarters: California, US

Founded in: 2010

Key strengths: Modern and scalable API-based card issuing platform that supports various card types and payment methods

Website: marqeta.com

Marqeta is a modern card issuing platform that provides businesses with a wide range of payment and money management solutions. Marqeta’s card issuing functionality allows businesses to create and manage virtual and physical debit and credit cards, and customize their card programs to fit their unique needs. Some of the key features of Marqeta’s card issuing platform include:

• Customization
  Marqeta allows businesses to create custom card programs with features such as spending limits, transaction restrictions, and rewards programs.
• API-driven approach
  The platform is API-driven, which means businesses can easily integrate their card programs with other systems and services.
• Advanced fraud protection
  Marqeta’s platform includes advanced fraud detection and prevention tools to help protect against unauthorized transactions.

The card issuing platform provides businesses with a comprehensive set of tools to create and manage custom card programs, with a focus on flexibility, security, and ease of integration with other systems.

Paymentology

Headquarters: London, UK

Founded in: 2015

Key strengths: Provides end-to-end card issuing solutions and personalized and data-driven card programs.

Website: paymentology.com

Paymentology is a payment processing and card issuing platform that provides businesses with a wide range of payment solutions, including card issuance, authorization, and settlement services. 

Paymentology’s card issuing functionality allows businesses to create and manage virtual and physical debit and credit cards, and customize their card programs to fit their unique needs. Some of the key features of Paymentology’s card issuing platform include: 

• Global coverage

Paymentology’s platform provides global coverage, enabling businesses to issue cards in multiple currencies and countries.

• Real-time controls

Paymentology’s platform provides real-time controls for businesses to manage their card programs, including the ability to instantly turn cards on or off and adjust spending limits.

• Mobile capabilities

Paymentology offers mobile capabilities, including mobile wallet integration and mobile card controls, to provide businesses and cardholders with more convenient and secure ways to manage their cards.

Paymentology is a leading global issuer-processor, serving the financial sector through its ultra-advanced, multi-cloud network. 

Fiserv

Headquarters: Wisconsin, US

Founded in: 1984

Key strengths: Provides robust security features and compliance

Website: fiserv.com

Fiserv’s product offerings include digital banking solutions, mobile banking, payments and card processing, risk and compliance management, data analytics, and core processing services. The company serves clients in various industries, including banking, credit unions, investment services, insurance, and government.

Fiserv provides 24/7 customer support for cardholders to assist with account inquiries, fraud alerts, and lost or stolen cards.The company also offers rewards programs for cardholders, including cashback and point-based rewards, to incentivize card usage and drive customer loyalty. Cardholder self-service tools enable cardholders to manage their accounts online, including viewing account balances, transaction history, and making payments.

Fiserv was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin. The company has operations in over 40 countries and employs over 44,000 people globally. As of 2021, Fiserv has a market capitalization of over $80 billion and is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol FISV.

Wallester

Headquarters: Tallinn, Estonia

Founded in: 2016

Key strengths: European-regulated Visa card issuing infrastructure for branded programmes with real-time controls

Website: wallester.com

Wallester White-Label is a European card issuing and payment infrastructure solution for companies that want to embed card-based payments into their own products. The platform enables businesses to launch branded virtual and physical Visa card programmes without building issuing, compliance, or processing capabilities in-house.

Key features include:

• End-to-end card issuing infrastructure
  Businesses can issue virtual and physical Visa cards under their own brand, with full control over card logic, lifecycle management, and user experience.
• Configurable controls and rules
  The platform supports spending limits, merchant and category restrictions, transaction rules, and real-time controls at card and programme level.
• API-first architecture
  Wallester White-Label integrates via APIs, allowing seamless connection with existing products, apps, and back-office systems.
• European regulatory framework
  As a European-regulated issuer with Visa BIN sponsorship, Wallester handles compliance, safeguarding, and scheme requirements.

The solution allows companies to launch compliant card programmes faster while retaining control over branding, functionality, and scale.

Galileo

Headquarters: Utah, US

Founded in: 2000

Key strengths: Supports various card types and payment methods and provides developer-friendly APIs and SDKs

Website: galileo.com

Galileo is a financial technology platform with an innovation engine and a leader in card issuing, payments and digital banking. The company was founded in 2000 by Clay Wilkes, who also serves as its CEO. Galileo’s products and services include card issuing, payments processing, and digital banking solutions. 

The company offers a range of customizable card programs, including debit, credit, and prepaid cards, that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of businesses and financial institutions. Galileo’s fraud detection and prevention tools are among the most advanced in the industry, with real-time monitoring and multi-factor authentication to help protect against unauthorized transactions and fraudulent activity. 

SynapseFI

Headquarters: California, US

Founded in: 2014

Key strengths: Provides compliance and risk management features

Website: synapsefi.com

SynapseFI is a financial technology company that provides API-based banking services, including payment processing, card issuing, deposit accounts, and loans. The company’s platform also includes advanced fraud detection and prevention tools, such as real-time transaction monitoring and machine learning-based risk analysis. The platform is built on a secure infrastructure, with multi-layered encryption and robust data privacy controls.

SynapseFI offers a range of card issuing features as part of its API-based banking services. These features include: customizable card programs, real-time transaction processing and customizable notifications for their customers, including real-time alerts for transactions, balance updates.

SolarisBank

Headquarters: Berlin, Germany

Founded in: 2016

Key strengths: Provides banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform with card issuing capabilities

Website: solarisgroup.com

SolarisBank is a German-based banking platform that offers a range of financial services to businesses, including card issuing. Here are some features of SolarisBank’s card issuing platform: customizable card design, API integration, reporting and analytics and multi-currency support. 

The platform includes advanced fraud prevention measures such as real-time transaction monitoring and alerts, 3D Secure authentication, and card blocking, which help to protect businesses and cardholders from fraudulent activities. However, SolarisBank card issuing services are currently limited to businesses operating within the European Economic Area (EEA).

BOND

Headquarters: New York, US

Founded in: 2019

Key strengths: Offers API-based card issuing and payment processing solutions and custom risk management 

Website: bond.tech

BOND is a fintech company that was established in 2019 and provides enterprise-level financial services. Their offerings include services such as account creation, KYC/AML and document verification, instant virtual card issuance that can be easily integrated with popular mobile payment platforms like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, as well as physical card issuance, deposits and loans, domestic money transfers, custom risk management solutions.

BOND’s focus on providing a comprehensive suite of financial services to businesses makes it an attractive option for companies looking for a one-stop-shop for their financial needs. The ability to easily issue virtual and physical cards, along with other financial services, can help businesses streamline their financial operations and improve their overall efficiency. Additionally, BOND’s custom risk management solutions can help businesses mitigate potential financial risks and make informed decisions about their financial strategies.

GPS

Headquarters: London, UK

Founded in: 2007

Key strengths: Provides end-to-end card issuing and processing solutions

Website: globalprocessing.com 

GPS is a well-established player in the fintech industry, having been in operation since 2007 and having raised $458 million to date. The company provides cutting-edge payment issuing solutions to the top challengers worldwide. GPS played a significant role in the early success of many of the UK’s fintech startups, including Revolut, Monzo, and Curve. Ayoconnect, StashAway, and Banking Circle are among GPS’s primary competitors.

GPS utilizes open APIs to provide a range of services, including virtual card issuance, payment processing, management of credit, debit, and prepaid card transactions, mobile wallet solutions, multi-currency cards with flexible rates, and security and fraud prevention measures such as 3D-secure and dynamic CVV. Additionally, GPS offers back-office solutions that enable businesses to analyze their clients’ behavior and transaction history, allowing for product improvements to be made based on this data.

Moss 

Headquarters: Berlin, Germany

Founded in: 2019

Key strengths: Provides customizable card programs and advanced features

Website: en.getmoss.com

Moss  is a technology-based payment and credit card platform, which can help companies improve their financial management. The platform offers a flexible and dynamic corporate credit card, with a credit limit that can be up to 10 times higher than traditional cards. The platform supports both virtual and physical cards, allowing team members to make secure and convenient purchases.

The company has processed 250,000 transactions and issued 20,000 cards. The product is live in Germany and the Netherlands. The main difference between the company and its competitors is that it offers credit cards, not debit cards.

Card issuing providers features comparison table 

SDK.finance: An Ideal Platform for Card Issuing Programmes

SDK.finance is designed to serve as a ready and reliable foundation for card issuing projects. Instead of building issuing infrastructure from scratch, businesses use SDK.finance as the core Platform, connect to card schemes through their chosen partners, and activate a card issuing provider from a list of pre-integrated solutions. This model significantly reduces technical complexity and shortens the path to a live card programme.

The Platform already contains everything required on the financial and operational side of card issuing. Once a scheme-certified issuing provider is enabled, card transactions, balances, settlements, and fees are immediately processed within a unified ledger and operational environment. SDK.finance does not act as a card issuer or processor itself. It provides the core system that makes card issuing scalable, controllable, and consistent across markets.

SDK.finance is an ideal choice for card issuing because it offers:

• A ledger-based transactional core purpose-built for card-related money flows, including authorisations, settlements, reversals, fees, and chargebacks.

• Native support for prepaid, debit, and hybrid card models through multi-currency accounts and wallets.

• Pre-integrated, scheme-certified card issuing and processing providers compatible with Visa and Mastercard programmes, which can be activated without redesigning the core system.

• A single backoffice for card operations, transaction monitoring, customer management, and dispute handling.

• More than 470 API endpoints for limits, fees, reconciliation, reporting, and automation.

• Treasury and prefunding tools to control issuer balances and scheme-level exposures.

• Flexible deployment via SaaS or source code licence, supporting both fast launches and long-term independence.

In practice, this means teams focus on scheme membership, regulatory approvals, and commercial agreements, while SDK.finance handles the financial logic and operational backbone. Card issuing becomes a configuration and integration exercise rather than a multi-year engineering project.

By using SDK.finance as the core Platform, fintechs, PSPs, EMIs, and enterprises can launch card issuing programmes faster, scale them safely, and evolve their card products without changing the underlying technology foundation.

SDK.finance is a technological solution that enables you to issue and manage payment cards if you already have a license from a card issuer listed in this comparison. For example, our demo video showcases how debit card issuing works using the SDK.finance platform:

Conclusion 

The payment card market is expected to continue growing in the coming years, driven by wider adoption of digital payments and the ongoing shift away from cash. In this context, choosing the right card issuing platform becomes a strategic decision that directly affects scalability, operational efficiency, and long-term product flexibility.

When evaluating card issuing solutions, businesses should look beyond surface-level features and focus on the underlying technology foundation. Factors such as ledger architecture, security and fraud controls, fee configuration, reporting capabilities, and integration flexibility play a critical role in how well a card programme performs over time. Comparing vendors on these dimensions helps clarify which solution can support both initial launch and future growth.

If you are planning to launch or expand a card issuing programme and want to understand how a ledger-based core can simplify integrations with Visa and Mastercard issuing partners, you can explore how SDK.finance supports card issuing projects in practice and discuss your requirements with the team here.