Even businesses that don’t have financial services infrastructure can benefit from offering branded credit or debit cards to their customers around the world. Global card issuance has become a way for businesses to expand their financial products into new markets quickly and support users who operate across borders. The modern card-issuing platform market had a transaction value of $1.8 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow 129% by 2030. As more companies build cross-border card programs and look for reliable ways to issue cards internationally, it’s important to understand the infrastructure, regulations, and partners that make global issuing work.

Below, we’ll explain how global card issuance operates, what it requires, and how it helps businesses reach customers around the world.

What’s in this article?

• What is global card issuance?
  
• How do issuers operate across regions?
  
• What infrastructure supports global card programs?
  
• What compliance issues affect global issuance?
  
• How can companies choose global issuance partners?
  
• How does global issuance expand customer reach?
  
• How Stripe Payments can help
  

What is global card issuance?

Global card issuance is the process of creating and managing payment cards that can be issued to users in multiple countries and work across borders. The card, whether debit, credit, or prepaid, uses the same international networks that move payments around the globe.

A company might start with one region and then add others using local issuing arrangements or a partner that already has approvals in multiple countries. Each card is denominated in a local currency, but it still works anywhere the network logo is accepted, with automatic foreign exchange (FX) when a cardholder spends abroad.

How do issuers operate across regions?

Card issuing can be done on modern infrastructure that scales across markets.

Here are three common models of issuing global cards.

Local issuing

One way to operate across regions is to set up issuing programs directly within each market. This means working with a locally licensed bank or electronic money institution so you can onboard customers under the rules of that jurisdiction and issue cards in the local currency.

A card issued this way functions as a “domestic” product in that region. But because it runs on a global network, it still works anywhere the network is accepted, and currency conversion is handled automatically.

Cross-border network programs

Some card networks also boast multicountry frameworks that let issuers extend their reach without setting up a new entity in every market. Visa’s Multinational Program and Mastercard’s Extension of Area of Use are built for this scenario. They allow platforms to issue cards to subsidiaries of US multinational companies in more than 40 countries where those multinationals are already account holders. It’s a practical way to follow customers into new regions using centralized infrastructure.

Bank Identification Number (BIN) sponsorship

A third path, and a common one for fintech companies, is partnering with a sponsor bank that already has the necessary licenses. The sponsor provides its BIN, regulatory coverage, and settlement capabilities, and the company builds the user-facing product. BIN sponsorship provides a fast, low-lift way to enter multiple markets because the sponsor handles compliance and other requirements that would otherwise slow expansion.

Blended models

Global issuers can use a combination of these strategies: local issuing where scale justifies it, network extensions where they need coordinated reach, and BIN sponsorship to accelerate entry or test new markets. The blend gives issuers the flexibility to support users wherever they are.

What infrastructure supports global card programs?

Global card programs work when the underlying systems are strong enough to operate across currencies, regulations, and time zones.

Here’s the infrastructure that makes it possible:

• Global payment networks: These networks allow an issuer in one country to authorize a purchase made in another, convert currencies in real time, and settle funds correctly. Their shared standards, such as chip requirements, tokenization, and dispute rules, keep transactions consistent everywhere.

• Issuing licenses and banking relationships: Someone in the stack needs the regulatory approval to issue cards, whether that’s your own licensed entity, a local bank, or a sponsor bank providing its BIN and permissions. Providers such as Stripe simplify this by holding the right positions in more than 20 countries.

• Issuing processors and APIs: The issuer processor is typically where card accounts are created, authorizations are evaluated, and network messages are handled. Modern processors expose this through application programming interfaces (APIs) with sandboxes, webhooks, and straightforward documentation so teams can embed issuing without building the entire system themselves.

• Multicurrency and treasury systems: Even single-currency card programs might end up handling transactions in other currencies, which means FX should be automatic, accurate, and predictable. Some card issuers layer in multicurrency wallets, supported by treasury systems that manage funding accounts across regions and handle settlement without disrupting the user experience.

• Compliance and security tools: Global issuing hinges on Know Your Customer (KYC) flows that meet local expectations, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) monitoring that adjusts to regional rules, and data handling that conforms to privacy laws such as GDPR in the EU. Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards still apply, and strong automated checks, screening software, and real-time monitoring keep the program safe and scalable.

What compliance issues affect global issuance?

Issuing cards across borders means working within multiple regulatory environments at once, each with its own expectations and guardrails.

Keep the following in mind:

• Licensing and regulatory approval: Different markets have different rules about who is allowed to issue cards, often limiting that role to banks or licensed electronic money institutions. If that doesn’t describe your organization, you either need a local partnership or a sponsor bank with regulatory permissions that cover your program, and you’ll still operate under that region’s oversight.

• KYC and AML obligations: Identity checks and transaction monitoring are required almost everywhere, but the details shift from country to country, including what counts as valid ID, when verification must happen, and how suspicious activity is reported.

• Consumer protection requirements: Markets differ on fee caps, dispute rights, credit disclosures, and how interest or rewards must be presented. The EU’s caps on interchange fees, which generate income, materially change card economics compared with markets without caps, which means product features and pricing often need regional tailoring.

• Data privacy and storage laws: User data might need to be stored within a specific region, handled under strict consent rules, or made accessible to users on request. GDPR is an example, but many markets have their own versions that shape how sensitive data is collected and retained.

• Security and scheme standards: PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) applies everywhere, and networks set their own fraud, chargeback, and authentication requirements. As you expand, meeting those standards—such as 3D Secure where required, fraud thresholds where enforced, and regular scheme reporting—becomes part of keeping your program trusted and able to operate in each region.

How can companies choose global issuance partners?

Good issuance partners let you evolve your product without rebuilding your infrastructure every time you enter a new market.

They should offer the following:

• Geographic coverage and regional expertise: Their regional knowledge, such as how onboarding works, what regulators expect, and how settlement flows differ, saves you from learning lessons the hard way.

• Depth of capabilities: Look closely at the parts of the stack you need, including virtual and physical issuance, card controls, multicurrency support, digital wallet provisioning, rewards management, and granular authorization logic.

• Integration quality and developer experience: Modern APIs, straightforward documentation, sandbox environments, predictable webhooks, and clean abstractions matter because global programs might require frequent iteration as you add new regions and features.

• Compliance and risk support: Strong partners provide identity verification flows, transaction monitoring, dispute tooling, and regular updates on regulatory and network changes, all of which safeguard your internal team from becoming overloaded.

• Cost structure and scalability: Issuing costs can vary by region, but they might include setup fees, per-card fees, transaction fees, FX costs, and sometimes minimums.

• Reliability and day-to-day support: Uptime, incident response, and access to knowledgeable support teams matter because card issues surface in real time for end users. Partners that provide steady communication, escalation paths, and guidance during certifications or regional expansion give you an easier path from launch to scale.

How does global issuance expand customer reach?

When a card works internationally and can be issued in multiple regions, it can travel with the customer across teams, markets, and use cases.

Here are the specific benefits:

• Access to new markets: Having a product that can be issued locally or used easily across borders means you can enter those markets without rebuilding your entire financial stack.

• More value for global users: Customers who travel, operate multicountry teams, or work with international vendors often appreciate financial programs that simplify spending and reinforce your product as the place where their financial activity naturally lives.

• Higher transaction volume and revenue potential: International acceptance widens the range of transactions that flow through your platform, which can increase interchange revenue and make adjacent products (such as FX, spend controls, and rewards) more meaningful.

• Stronger, stickier relationships: When a card program can support a customer across regions, it becomes easier for that customer to consolidate more of their activity with you. That consistency builds loyalty, especially for businesses with distributed teams that benefit from having the same card product everywhere they operate.

How Stripe Payments can help

Stripe Payments provides a unified, global payments solution that helps any business—from scaling startups to global enterprises—accept payments online, in person, and around the world.

Stripe Payments can help you:

• Optimize your checkout experience: Create a frictionless customer experience and save thousands of engineering hours with prebuilt payment UIs, access to 125+ payment methods, and Link, a wallet built by Stripe.

• Expand to new markets faster: Reach customers worldwide and reduce the complexity and cost of multicurrency management with cross-border payment options, available in 195 countries across 135+ currencies.

• Unify payments in person and online: Build a unified commerce experience across online and in-person channels to personalize interactions, reward loyalty, and grow revenue.

• Improve payments performance: Increase revenue with a range of customizable, easy-to-configure payment tools, including no-code fraud protection and advanced capabilities to improve authorization rates.

• Move faster with a flexible, reliable platform for growth: Build on a platform designed to scale with you, with 99.999% historical uptime and industry-leading reliability.

Learn more about how Stripe Payments can power your online and in-person payments, or get started today.