Demystifying Cards – 2023 guide to payments and cards

Types of cards

On paper, prepaid, debit and credit card propositions can look strikingly similar as almost all of them use some form of authorisation technology to streamline how a customer accesses funds on a card. In fact, the use cases and characteristics of these similar looking cards are actually a lot more nuanced than you think.

It’s also worth noting that different card networks OR schemes (the central payment networks linked to different types of cards e.g. Visa and Mastercard) have specific product requirements for each type of card. Your card proposition will need to take these requirements into account. Plus, these two card networks each have more nuances depending on whether your proposition is for consumer or commercial use. As technology has evolved, the lines are blurring between product boundaries with a prepaid and debit card often indistinguishable for the cardholder, as the user experience is often similar.

The card ecosystem

The bedrock of the card ecosystem is the ‘four-party model’. It’s the industry’s accepted framework for processing digital or physical card payments between buyers and sellers. All in a way that’s straightforward, secure, and consistent – from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe.

If you’re wondering where Marqeta resides, we would fall under the issuer in the card ecosystem in the four party model of Merchant, Cardholder, Issuer bank and Acquirer bank.

But there are other parties involved in ensuring a swift, smooth and seamless transaction flow including the network, which as you’ve probably guessed, connects these parties.

To further highlight where Marqeta sits in this key flow we have included an infographic showing how the other parties in the model interact with each other and Marqeta’s function as issuer processor. We have also included the interactions between parties in the model for authorisation of a transaction, clearing and settlement of transactions, and settlement reporting.

Drilling a bit further, Marqeta’s role as an issuer processor INCLUDES the following key areas:

Raw Settlement Reports
The raw reports that come from merchants via the networks that collate transactions from those merchants your customers have spent at and needs to be verified against the actual authorisations given.

Clearing and Settlement Reports
Clearing – The process of exchanging financial transaction details between an acquirer and an issuer to facilitate posting of a cardholder’s account and reconciliation of a customer’s settlement position.
Settlement – The process by which the network (scheme) facilitates the exchange of funds on behalf of issuers and acquirers.

Authorisation
The transaction authorisations for POS transactions, online and e-commerce transactions, ATM transactions, etc. (Via end-point connections to both Visa and Mastercard.)

Batch Clearing
Transactions for the clearing process are handled in large batches for efficiency rather than handled individually which we process for clients.

Daily Batched Cards
Report sent to the card fulfilment bureau to provide a notification file of physical cards to be printed and sent to your cardholders.

Webhooks
Whenever an event occurs on a card, use near real time notifications to let your end users know.

Gateway JIT (Just in Time) Funding
Marqeta’s version of external authorisation – putting you in full control of every authorisation. Marqeta parses the authorisation message to you, converting ISO to JSON.

API
Programming Interfaces between our applications and yours provides a much easier framework to communicate requests and makes changes much easier to implement in the future. You can look through our Core APIs are here.

Getting started: The key components of building a card programme

Whether your proposition involves digital banking services, SME lending or point-of-sale financing, there are certain essential components your card programme will need before and after it launches. You’ll need the fundamental building blocks to get up and running but you’ll also need the key components that will support the day to day running of your proposition.

“Our developers looked at Marqeta’s platform and said that’s exactly how they would have built a card issuing and payment processing platform if they were building from the ground up. That’s why we chose to work with Marqeta.”

Daniel Capraro, Co-Founder, CPO – YAPEAL
Watch the video

The licensing question

At first glance, the world of licensing for card programmes might seem impossibly complex. Don’t let this deter you. It’s mainly due to the variety of licences, the different options for achieving your goals, and the overlap between roles and responsibilities, which depends on how you want to set up your card programme.

The trick is to define the objectives and ambitions for your card proposition and then work back from there. For example, what building blocks do you need to put in place to create your card proposition? How quickly do you need to launch? What in-house expertise or financial resources do you have? Once you’re clear on these kinds of questions, the right path to licensing should begin to reveal itself.

It’s helpful to think about your licensing options through three different, but related, lenses: Time, Financial Resources and In-House Resources and Expertise.

There are two broad types of licence – a network (scheme) licence and a regulatory licence. Which you will need will depend mainly on your business model and the size of your card programme as well as your specific business model at launch.

Key costs in building your card programme

Every card transaction involves multiple parties, with each party bearing costs or receiving revenue associated with the part they play. In some cases, different parties share or pass on part of the cost to others in the transaction cycle – for example, when it comes to fraud.

However, whilst looking at the micro costs within the transaction flow is beneficial (refer to a diagram later on maybe in the appendix), it’s macro costs that will be the biggest factor affecting your bottom line once your card programme is live so it’s prudent to understand these early on.

Monetising your card programme

Overnight successes rarely happen in financial services, so be realistic. Building your brand, reputation, and cardholder numbers takes time. The key is to have a strong card proposition, a deep understanding of your prospective cardholders, and a firm grip of the commercials. Get these right and you can be on the path to profitability.

“Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning” – Thomas Edison

Active not passive
A common mistake when launching a card programme is to focus too heavily on cardholder numbers. Of course, the more the better, but only if they’re active and using your card regularly. Which would you prefer, 1000 cardholders and 25 regular users, or 75 cardholders and 40 regular users?

The anatomy of a winning proposition
In our experience, a successful card proposition has three key things:

1. It solves a real-world problem – that could be in the way the card works, what it offers, or how it’s used when compared to its competitors – any of these, alone or combined, could create a unique selling proposition (USP) that elevates a card in the eyes of your audience. Functionally, it could make life more convenient for cardholders, or give them a perceived benefit none of its rivals has, such as an enhanced loyalty programme.
   Here’s a great article by Amna Ahsan for Thorgate that highlights five key problems that Fintechs are working to solve. (Think about generalised experiences that are not tailored to your needs as a consumer, costs that your transactions attract when moving funds across borders and not having access to data in real-time as some examples.) https://thorgate.eu/blog/5-problems-can-be-solved-fintech
2. It offers an emotional value – one that goes beyond its basic function as a payment method. This could be, for example, the financial freedom it brings cardholders. The sense of belonging they feel by carrying it, or the ‘kudos’ or exclusivity it bestows on them in other’s eyes. Or even the pleasure that comes from making the very most of any and all benefits a card programme might offer.
   Monzo (was Mondo) did an amazing job of building a community of users who effectively became marketing evangelists for this Fintech! Everyone wanted a hot coral card and were excited about how this challenger bank was going to take on the incumbents! More on them, and others, in this article written by Judit Toth, UX designer at Dock9 here:
3. It draws the right crowd – developing a strong product requires a deep understanding of the audience you want to attract. Who is your ideal cardholder, and how will your proposition make their life easier, simpler, better, more enjoyable? As the market’s seen time and again, short-term gimmicks to encourage spend will only take you so far. Long-term success is about making your card the top-of-wallet (primary) choice from the outset.

In this article written by Steven Carr for User Testing.com there are some excellent tips on customer insight strategy that can help you launch a programme that delights your customers!

Fraud, decisioning and authorisation

Unfortunately, wherever you find financial services you’ll find some level of fraud or attempted fraud. And it’s the same in the card payments sector – especially when a new card programme goes live.

Fraudsters know this is when a card programme is at its most vulnerable, so it’s essential to get on the front foot to tackle fraud and build it in as a key pillar of your business strategy.

You may want a payment processor that offers real-time access to controls so if you identify fraud you can respond immediately, rather than having to go through your processor. You may also want a payment processor that allows you to get involved in both decisioning and transaction authorisation.

Put simply, you may want to make sure you have the agility and processes to be able to change rule sets immediately – from day one. Consider choosing a partner that enables you to change fraud rules in real time to respond to threats. Also consider whether you want to be part of the authorisation flow of a transaction. This is possible with modern issuer processors like Marqeta, for example. We call it gateway Just In Time (JIT) funding. It is often referred to as external authorisation more broadly. This puts you in full control of the authorisation of every transaction and combined with a fraud tool this can be a very effective way to mitigate fraud. More on this later.

Launching a card programme

Regardless of whether you already have a license, or whether you’re going to use a BIN Sponsor or Programme Manager, you’ll need to go through the same launch journey.

Typically, this can take around six months, but can be helped or hindered by various factors. For example, your approach to licensing and network membership: will you take the faster route and piggy-back off another entity’s licence or apply for your own? Will you go for principal network (scheme) membership or use a BIN sponsor? And what kind of cards will your programme use – physical or virtual?

A World of opportunity

Imagine your card programme’s up and running, your commercial model is working, and your brand is building. What happens next? One option might be to expand your card programme internationally to reach new markets.

It’s often a conversation many start-ups overlook as they’re focused first on launching and then on getting established. But it may be worth making sure the partners you’re working with – for example, your BIN Sponsor, payment processor and card bureau – can support any foray into new markets.

Of course, it may not happen, but it may be worth future-proofing your card programme in case the opportunity arises and you need to move quickly to scale somewhere else. With the right partners on board, you may be able to land and expand in a new country or territory in days and weeks, not months and years.

Again, it’s about choosing who to work with carefully. Does your BIN Sponsor have a European licence? Can you produce physical cards in the region you’re expanding in? Does your processor offer frictionless international expansion capabilities, without compromising in other areas such as dynamic spending and velocity controls and fraud prevention and monitoring?

Expansion considerations

• Local Switches (technical integration considerations)
• Redsys in Spain are in theory are not a domestic scheme but are acquirer processors with a massive share of the Spanish market, representing c.90% of the acquiring transactional volume. If you ar elaunching in Spain as part of a European expansion you will need to consider this as part of the overall transacton flow.
• Carte Bancaire (France) and Bancomat (Italy) are always co-branded, meaning they’re also Visa/Mastercard network enabled. As such, if a domestic transaction is being processed it goes through the domestic scheme rails, if it’s abroad (or if the acquirer is not using those domestic schemes) then the transaction is routed to Visa/Mastercard.
• All domestic schemes tend to have better acceptance rates in general, as there’s more trust between the parties (issuers, acquirers, issuer processors and merchants) and less suspected fraud.
• These domestic schemes work pretty much as a membership association, so in terms of entry requirements normally you’d need to be sponsored by a member and have a locally incorporated branch of your company.
• SHVA is the name given to the ocal switch/metwork in Israel, who dominate Israeli card payments, so much so that Mastercard acquired a stake in them!
• Further information regarding payment switches and gateways can be found here.
  • As well as local and domestic arrangements for these types of different switches and acquiring arrangements, local regulatory considerations must be well understood. Whilst passporting arrangements cover much of Europe, it’s a myth that domestic, per country regulations do not apply.
    • BAFIN is the german regulatory body
    • AMF is the Franch regulator
    • The FCA is the UK regulator
  • It is vital that when considering launching or expanding into a new geography that you are aware of the domestic nuances of that market, with regulation and compliance being paramount to that knowledge gathering.

Our partner Lendable had this advice:

• Our key building blocks when considering launching a card programme in a new geography are as follows:
  • Evaluate what needs to be added to the product offering for a launch in a new geography
    Licensing requirements – to be applied for and obtained, or to work with a partner who has the right licensing requirements already in place
  • Commercials – Lendable have an established P&L so how this fits the new market will be considered
  • Evaluate competitive environment – APRs for credit card facilities, Cashback facilities, market dynamics and size of opportunity
  • How Marqeta can support this expansion given our growing global presence

Jargon buster

Both networks provide glossaries which mention network (scheme) specific terminology as well as more general industry terms.

The Mastercard glossary can be found here, and the Visa glossary is here.

For a summary of more general and regularly used terms please see below:

3D Secure (3DS)
Created by Visa and MasterCard, 3D Secure also referred to as 3DS is a technical standard that adds a layer of security in online credit and debit card transactions.

Different card networks developed their own 3D Secure transaction products:

• MasterCard SecureCode
• Verified by Visa

Acquirer
The card acquirer is a member of a card network (scheme) that enters into an agreement with a merchant and maintains its account to accept payments. As such, it acts as an intermediary between the merchant and the international payment systems. The card acquirer enables merchants to accept card payments. Also, one of the four in the four-party model.

Agency Banking /Digital Banking / banking light
An agency banking partner is a third-party which carries out certain banking services on behalf of a non-banking entity. They can usually provide BACs, Faster Payments, and Direct Debits that their clients can then in turn provide to their end customers.

AML
Anti-Money Laundering, AML, is the term used to describe the tools and techniques to prevent criminals from depositing their illicit funds into the financial system. AML tools will analyse habits and transactions to spot where money laundering is occurring and further review these risky transactions.

API
APIs are application programming interfaces, a set of instructions and tools that enable software developers to create applications that can interact with another company’s systems. For example, by connecting to a bank’s API, a fintech startup could develop a mobile phone app that moves money in and out from the accounts of a bank’s customers, or simply lets them check their balance.

Authorisation
A key part of the card transaction flow. When a customer attempts to use their card to purchase goods or services, the merchant’s acquirer requests authorisation for the transaction from the customer’s bank or issuer processor. This involves a number of steps including the bank/processor verifying the validity of the payment, checking funds and performing fraud checks on the merchant and transaction itself.

BACS (Bankers’ Automated Clearing System)
One of the traditional UK payments schemes used for bulk, high volume, regular retail payments and with T+2 day settlement.

Bank Identification Number (BIN)
The term bank identification number (BIN) refers to the initial set of four to six numbers that appear on a payment card. This set of numbers identifies the institution that issues the card (regulated issuer) and is key in the process of matching transactions to the issuer of the card.

Basis points (bps)
A common unit of measure for interest rates and other percentages in finance. One basis point is equal to 1/100th of 1%, or 0.01%.

BIN Range
A BIN’s digits or ‘range’ allow issuers to separate a BIN for the country and currency allocation and identifies a company issuing a card or a specific product.

BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later)
Short term, Point of Sale credit arrangement allowing customers to spread the cost of a single payment across a number of weeks or months.

Card Fulfillment
This term refers to the physical creation and provision of physical cards. The organisation is often referred to as a card fulfilment bureau, and they are responsible for providing the physical cards (with chip profiles defined to coincide with scheme and regulatory requirements based on the card type – credit, debit or prepaid) and sending these to customers. Card design is another key area of focus, again in line with network/scheme requirements.

Examples include Idemia and Tagnitecrest.

Card Network/Card Scheme
The terms network and scheme are interchangeable depending on where in the world you happen to be. The US refer to networks – The UK and Europe tend to refer to a card scheme. The role of a card network (scheme) is to facilitate transactions between merchants and card issuers. To do this, card networks create virtual payment infrastructures and charge merchants interchange fees for processing consumers’ card transactions. The card network pays the acquiring bank and the acquiring processor their respective percentages from the remaining funds. The acquiring bank credits the merchant’s account for cardholder purchases, less a “merchant discount rate.” The issuing bank posts the transaction information to the cardholder’s account.

Card PIN
Personal Identification Number or PIN which is usually 4 digits used to secure a customer’s card to ensure that only they are able make payments using that card at merchants requiring chip and pin

Card Programme
The term that covers all elements encompassing a card product. From licensing to scheme membership, marketing to card launch, operational activities, strategy and profitability.

Card Programme Manager
The entity that manages all the parts of the card programme including strategy, arrangements with vendors and schemes, understanding of the route to profitability, marketing strategy and all of the other key relationships. For card programmes that have underlying accounts and are created with and issuing bank, the programme manager will also understand and map out the structure of the profit centre and the store of value (where actual monies are held in a ledger).

Card Verification Value/Card Verification Code (CVV/CVC & CVV2/CVC2)
A verification value usually on the back of physical cards (and usually displayed on the back of virtual cards as well for consistency). Whilst Card Numbers and Expiry dates are allowed to be stored by merchants to allow a more seamless purchase journey for returning customers, CVC2/CVV2 is unique to the card and used to further verify the customer during a purchase. The key difference between CVV1/CVC1 & CVV2/CVC2 is that the 1st iteration of verification numbers were embedded as part magstripe along with the card number and expiry which meant that fraudsters could steal all the magstripe data and imprint duplicate cards using this complete profile of your card.

Now the more prevalent usage, especially in european countries, is to use Chip and PIN/contactless for in-person transactions and Card Details + CVC2 for online purchases. The addition of a PIN only known to the cardholder therefore acts as an additional layer of security.

NOTE: For VISA/MasterCard CVC2 is 3 digits and for American Express is 4 digits.

Cardholder
Person the card is issued to from the issuer. Also known as the customer and is the person who applied for, funds and makes transactions using the card. Also, one of the four in the four-party model

CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System)
Another of the traditional UK payments schemes used for same day transfers of large, valuable payments with no upper limit. Used for things like house purchases and other large, high value transactions.

Chargeback
Where funds are returned to the payment card and sometimes through a dispute resolution process. The most common chargeback case is where goods are returned and the merchant initiates a chargeback which refunds the customer in the amount originally paid for the goods. Customer initiated chargebacks are often for unrecognised payments (sometimes fraudulent) or for goods or services not received.

Chip and PIN/EMV
Chip and PIN refers to the combination of the EMV Microprocessor Chip embedded within the card and the PIN used to allow the chip to transfer information and transact at merchants. EMV is short for Europay, MasterCard, Visa who were the founders of the EMV technology back in 1994.

Clearing
The process of exchanging financial transaction details between an acquirer and an issuer to facilitate posting of a cardholder’s account and reconciliation of a customer’s settlement position.

Cross-Border Payments
Transactions where the initiation of the transaction and the recipient of that payment are in different countries. These can be between people, companies or financial institutions.

E-Money
Article 2(2) of Directive 2009/110/E : “electronically, including magnetically, stored monetary value as represented by a claim on the issuer which is issued on receipt of funds for the purpose of making payment transaction, and which is accepted by a natural or legal person other than the electronic money issuer”.

Prepaid cards are a good use case example for e-money storage. There is no underlying bank account associated with the card, and when you top up a prepaid card the funds are represented as an amount you have available to spend

E-Money Directive (EMD/EMD2)
The legislation that regulations e-money activities and payment services in the EU to provide more service electronic money services and encourage more competition

E-Money Institute
Financial institutes authorised to provide e-money services (providing they have an e-money licence.

E-Money Licence
A licence required by EMIs which allows them to issue and redeem electronic money.

EMD Agent
An agent of an E-Money Institute. Delegated authority to provide the same services as the partner institute and operating under their E-Money Licence

Faster Payments
A relatively new (since 2008) bank payments scheme which is a 24/7 real time system for low-value payments up to 250k.

Fintech
The aggregation of the words ‘Financial’ & ‘Technology’. The term Fintech broadly covers technology that improves access, automation or delivery of financial services. Things that fall under this broad spectrum include cryptocurrency, digital banks, financial data aggregation, embedded finance, POS lending, data focussed credit agencies and many more…

Four-Party-Model
The online payment network is often called the Four Party model (even though there are more parties involved). The Four Party model covers the entities involved in a transaction. The model includes the Cardholder, Merchant, Issuing bank and Acquiring bank, but forgets the network (scheme).

IBAN
International Bank Account Number used to make and receive payments across countries. It’s usually a combination of the account number and sort code as well as additional characters that make it unique.

Interchange
The percentage of each transaction paid by the Acquiring Bank (who the merchant banks with) to the Issuing bank (who issued the card to the customer). Interchange is paid to the Issuing bank to cover the risks and costs they incur during the card payment process like fraud checks and transaction authorisations.

Issuer
The issuer, or issuing bank, is the cardholder’s bank, which is a regulated entity.

When a consumer makes a purchase with their card for a product or service from a merchant, this information is passed to the acquirer which then references the relevant card scheme and the issuer to collect funds. The issuing bank is the intermediary between cardholders, card schemes, and acquirers. The information sent from the issuer determines whether the payment from the customer is accepted or not. Also, one of the four in the four-party model.

Issuer processor
Marqeta is an issuer processor. The technology layer that sits between the Card network and the Issuing Bank/Banking platform/Card Programme. The issuer processor provides a number of key component capabilities such as Card Issuance, Payment Processing, Authorisation stand in, processing of clearing and settlement files from networks and is the technical gateway into the card payment flow.

Just-in-time funding
Standard functionality of the Marqeta offering that allows you to automatically fund a card in real time during the transaction process. This means that customers don’t have to retain large amounts of cash on the card and can retain a zero balance but still use the card for payments. Cards always have a zero balance until a transaction is authorised and funds move as part of the e-money flow.

KYC
Know Your Client/Customer. A process to ensure businesses identify and verify the identity of their clients, for anti-money laundering (AML) purposes.

Magstripe
The strip of magnetic tape on the back of cards that stores card information and is captured when swiping or dipping at a merchant terminal.

Merchant
The traditional definition of a merchant is a “person or company involved in wholesale trade”. In the card ecosystem the merchant is just the person or organisation where you use your card to transact in either goods or services. Also, one of the four in the four-party model

Merchant Service Charge (MSC)
The charge that the Merchant pays, usually a minimum fee as well as a per transaction percentage charge on debit and credit transactions.

Mobile/ Digital wallet
A mobile or digital wallet is a way to carry your credit card or debit card information in a digital form on your mobile device. Instead of using your physical plastic card to make purchases, you can pay with your smartphone, tablet, or smartwatch. This can be either using cryptocurrency or real money which is often pre-loaded onto a digital account.

In theory, it is safer to use than a physical credit or debit card as the owner does not need to reveal their account number at point of purchase, and even if someone was able to intercept the transmitted encrypted information, they could not re-use it to authorise further payments. Examples include GooglePay, Apple pay and Samsung Pay

Near field communication (NFC)
This is the technology behind digital wallets, tap to pay cards and tapping a debit card vs an Oyster card to pay for the tube. It is a set of communication protocols that enable two electronic devices, one of which is usually a portable device such as a smartphone, to establish communication by bringing them within 4 cm (2 in) of each other.

Neo/Digital Bank
Neobanks are digital banks who operate entirely online and have no physical branches and are often app based. Starling, Monzo and Revolut are notable neo/digital banks in the UK.

Networks/Schemes
A card network sets the terms of card transactions as well as transfers payments between cardholders, merchants, and their respective banks. When a cardholder uses their card to make a purchase they are requesting that their card issuer pay the merchant. But that payment first has to go through a card network (scheme).

The networks pass information between the merchant’s acquiring bank and a card issuer (the financial institution that issued a card on behalf of a network like Mastercard or Visa) to decide whether or not to facilitate the purchase.

Open banking
A term used to refer to the use of open APIs by banks to enable third party software developers to create applications and software using the bank’s data. Open Banking gives customers access to their banking data via third-parties so they can view account information and initiate payments.

PCI-DSS Compliance
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is the set of 12 requirements that helps enforce the security of cardholder information and reduce fraud. Adherence to the standard is applicable for any stakeholders in the payment process handling card information and is governed by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.

Physical card
A physical card is typically made of plastic, although metal and wood have seen a recent uptake in demand and contains an electronic chip that is ready by card readers and ATMs. The card often features the company branding as well as the name of the cardholder, PAN, CVV, date of expiry and a signature strip. Some physical cards are contactless enabled.

POS
POS or Point-of-Sale traditionally refers to the physical location the card payment was made. Historically this was at the physical merchant terminal using swipe, chip & PIN or contactless but POS also covers online payment portals at e-commerce sites.

Primary Account Number (PAN)/Card Number
14,15 or 16 digit number on a payment card that’s commonly referred to as the Card Number. This is the number that uniquely identifies the card and is often embossed on physical cards.

Principal Member
A Principal Member is a financial institution that directly participates as an issuing and/or acquiring member of the Mastercard or Visa networks/schemes. The process to apply for principal membership is described in The Licensing Question section.

Processor (acquirer processor, payment processor)
An organisation that provides payment processing services such as Authorisation, Settlement and clearing. They, like the Issuer Processor, will be connected to the networks.

PSD2
Second Payment Services Directive OR Revised Payment Services directive is an EU regulation designed to contribute to a more integrated and efficient European payments market, make payments safer, increase the consumers’ protection and foster innovation and competition while ensuring a level playing field for all players, including new ones. It’s given rise to an Open Banking ecosystem in Europe.

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area)
An EU payments initiative aiming to make Eurozone payments easy and cheap by creating a single market for EURO denominated payments. A big step in achieving this goal is the creation of 3 SEPA payments schemes: SEPA Direct Debit (SDD), SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT), SEPA Cards Framework (SCF)

Settlement
The process by which the network (scheme) facilitates the exchange of funds on behalf of issuers and acquirers. Clearing is a prerequisite for settlement.

Tokenisation
Tokenisation is the process of turning a meaningful piece of data, such as an account number or card number (PAN) into a random string of characters called a token that has no meaningful value if breached. Tokens serve as reference to the original data, but cannot be used to guess those values. The tokenisation process is used when converting card data for use in digital wallets, such as apple pay.

Transaction Monitoring
The process of regularly monitoring transactions to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering legislation and spot fraudulent activity on a card or account

Underbanked/unbanked
People or businesses that have little or no access to mainstream financial services. The World Bank estimates that there are 2 billion adults worldwide without access to formal financial services.

Unicorn
A privately held company with a valuation of over $1billion. A Fintech Unicorn is just a unicorn in the Fintech industry i.e Starling Bank

Virtual card
A ‘virtual’ version of a physical card. Essentially a digitally stored card number, expiry and CVV that is usually secured on a customers mobile app or online portal. Works the same way as a physical card except it’s unable to be used in Chip and Pin devices but can still be used for contactless payments when tokenised. Beneficial as new card numbers can be used at potentially risky merchants therefore protecting the funds stored on account.

Additional resources

If you would like further insights and inspiration we’d recommend the following links, books, influencers, websites and any associated content that may help you plan your journey into the world of card issuing!