How to start a card issuing business: launch your own branded Visa cards
By SendPay Business · · 2 min read
- 1Your card appears in your app
- 2Tap it to pay in a shop
- 3See every payment as it happens
A card issuing business puts payment cards with its own name and design into customers' hands. You do not need to be a bank: most branded card programmes run on a licensed partner behind the scenes, while you own the brand, the customers and the pricing.
Who does what
Tap to explore
Tap each one to see what it means.
You
the brand, the app, the customers and the fees you charge.
A licensed issuer or BIN sponsor
holds the card scheme membership and the regulated side.
A card programme manager or platform
runs the technology that creates, controls and processes the cards.
The card scheme, such as Visa
the network the card works on.
How you earn
Card businesses typically earn from card fees, monthly plans, currency exchange margins and a share of interchange, the small fee a merchant's side pays on each card payment. Which of these you can use depends on your partners and the rules where you operate.
Try it
Name your platform and watch it come to life
Type a name, tap a colour and pick what it does. The phone changes as you go.
Colour
What it does
Design and preview your whole platform free, then launch when you are ready.
Launching on SendPay
The SendPay Card Issuing Platform lets you launch your own branded Visa cards. It is free to design and preview, you launch it when you are ready, and cards are switched on once the card partner approves your programme. You set what your customers pay, and virtual cards work in Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Before you go live
A licence or a licensed partner is usually needed to issue cards to the public, and the rules differ by country. SendPay introduces licence specialists free of charge, and the accounts and cards behind every platform are powered by licensed partners.
How it works
Your own money app- 1Name it and pick your colours
- 2Choose what it does
- 3Launch when you are ready
Why sign up
Create your free SendPay account
It's all about creating your own financial platform with ease. Start with a free account today.
- 🪪A free business accountOpen it in about a minute with your business name, email, password and mobile. No card and no documents to start.
- 💳Get paid from day oneTake card payments, and share your own payment link and invoices so customers pay in a click.
- 🌐A free business websiteFree to build, free to publish and free to keep, with unlimited visits.
- 🚀Your own financial platformDesign and preview your whole platform free, then launch when you are ready.
SendPay Business is a technology company, not a bank. Accounts, cards and payments are powered by licensed partners.
Questions people ask
What would my own card programme earn?
Work out card costs, card income and first-year profit from your own numbers.
Card issuing profit calculator →Read next
Spotted a mistake or something out of date? and we'll fix it. How our guides are made
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. SendPay Business is a technology company, not a bank, and does not take deposits; regulated services on the platforms are provided by licensed partners. Other companies named in this guide are reference points only and are not affiliated with SendPay Business.