Modern Issuer Processing
How Modern Issuer Processors Are Democratizing Card Issuing and Capuring Market Share
Brex issues corporate cards to 30,000 customers across 50 countries. Ramp scaled from zero to processing tens of billions annually in five years. Revolut serves millions of users across 40 markets. Chime built a challenger bank with millions of accounts.
None of them built the infrastructure powering those cards.
They’re running on Marqeta, Lithic, Galileo, Paymentology, and other modern issuer processors you’ve probably never heard of unless you work in payments. These platforms compressed what used to take 12 months and cost millions into 3-week implementations with pay-as-you-go pricing.
This isn’t another fintech enablement story. It’s a fundamental restructuring of market power in the payments industry.
Three legacy processors controlled issuing infrastructure for decades through mainframe systems, bank relationships, and regulatory expertise that took years to build.
That oligopoly is breaking apart.
Modern processors grew their market share from near-zero in 2015 to 6.2% of total issuer processing revenue by 2022. They’re growing five times faster than legacy systems.
The global issuer processing market will hit $48.6 billion by 2027. By 2034, modern and legacy processors are projected to split that market evenly. That’s not incremental change. That’s complete market restructuring in under a decade.
Let me explain how we got here, what changed, and why it matters for everyone in payments.
The Legacy Era: When Three Giants Owned Everything
For most of the past 50 years, issuer processing operated as a quiet oligopoly.
TSYS, FIS, and Fiserv built empires on mainframe systems developed in the 1970s and 1980s. They accumulated massive scale through decades of bank relationships and regulatory expertise. Their infrastructure processed trillions in annual transactions. Banks had no real alternatives.
The technology foundation worked.
Sort of.
COBOL codebases handled volume. Batch processing cleared transactions overnight. Rigid system architecture maintained stability. However, these same attributes enabled scale to become liabilities as the market evolved.
Legacy platforms required six to twelve months to launch new card products. The rigid codebases demanded manual configurations for every change. IT budgets consumed 60 to 80 percent of spending on maintenance, hardware, and per-change fees rather than innovation. Batch processing cycles meant real-time transaction data required expensive, complex customization.
The 2019 consolidation wave represented peak legacy power.
FIS acquired Worldpay for $43 billion. Global Payments acquired TSYS for $22 billion. Fiserv acquired First Data for $22 billion. The strategic rationale centered on creating end-to-end payment ecosystems combining issuing and acquiring capabilities. Presumed synergies across the value chain would create unassailable competitive advantages.
That thesis failed spectacularly.
By 2025, FIS is acquiring Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions (the former TSYS) for $13.5 billion while Global Payments simultaneously acquires Worldpay from FIS for $22.7 billion. This strategic unwinding reveals a fundamental truth: the combined entities weren’t worth more than the sum of their parts.
Companies are refocusing on core competencies. FIS on banking and issuing. Global Payments on merchant services. The unbundling signals something deeper than failed M&A strategy.
The market moved underneath them.
The Bridge Generation: Galileo and i2c Pioneer APIs
While legacy processors dominated through the 2000s, a handful of companies saw the shift coming.
Galileo Financial Technologies launched in 2000 with a different architecture. Built on modern databases rather than mainframes. Designed for API access rather than batch processing. Focused on enabling fintechs rather than servicing only banks.
SoFi recognized Galileo’s strategic value and acquired the company for $1.2 billion in April 2020. That deal brought comprehensive issuer processing and core banking capabilities in-house while allowing Galileo to continue serving external clients. The company now powers 168 million accounts across North and South America.
Galileo’s customer roster demonstrates the platform’s reach: Chime, Robinhood, SoFi, Varo, Monzo US, Dave, Revolut. The company achieved Visa Ready certification in October 2022 and secured Mastercard Express issuer processor status for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2022. That multi-year Mastercard partnership supports over 2,000 fintech innovators in the region.
i2c Inc. followed a similar path from its 2001 founding. The company built a worldwide card program supported by strategic partnerships across geographies. Less visible than Galileo but serving as a reliable infrastructure for enterprises needing comprehensive global connectivity. Brex initially partnered with i2c in 2019 to power corporate card program growth before later building proprietary infrastructure.
These second-generation processors bridged legacy and modern worlds.
Faster deployment than legacy systems (weeks to months versus 6 to 12 months). API-based integration while supporting clients requiring hands-on managed services. Enterprise relationships and regulatory expertise that newer entrants lacked. Geographic reach and network relationships built over two decades.
They proved that modern technology could work at scale. They demonstrated that APIs could replace batch files. They showed that cloud infrastructure could handle payment volumes previously requiring mainframes.
But they still operated within the constraints of the old model. Integration timelines are measured in months. Pricing structures built for banks rather than startups. Feature velocity is limited by serving legacy clients alongside modern ones.
The third generation would eliminate those constraints entirely.
The Modern Era: Cloud-Native Platforms Built for Developers
Marqeta invented the category.
Jason Gardner founded the company in Oakland in February 2010. The origin story began at a San Francisco sushi restaurant in 2009 when Gardner’s friend suggested putting Groupon coupons on a card. Gardner realized every payment terminal globally was already unique and standardized, a platform waiting for modern software to unlock its potential.
Marqeta initially launched a consumer card product around 2011 that failed. The pivot came in 2012 when Facebook approached the company, interested not in the consumer product but in the issuing processing system Marqeta had built from scratch. That insight led Gardner to open the platform to enterprise customers.
The core innovation was introducing open APIs to card issuing in 2014. An approach now ubiquitous but revolutionary at the time. The company built a cloud-native infrastructure with real-time processing capabilities. Just-in-Time Funding loaded funds to cards only at transaction authorization. Dynamic spend controls are modified via API in seconds rather than weeks. Transaction matching achieved 99 percent accuracy versus the 88 percent industry standard.
Square’s Cash App and Square Card represented 70 percent of Marqeta’s revenue as of 2020. DoorDash used virtual cards for Dashers. Instacart issued shopper cards. Uber-powered gig worker payments. Affirm and Klarna built BNPL cards. Brex and Ramp launched corporate expense cards. JPMorgan Chase partnered for virtual commercial card tokenization.
Marqeta went public in June 2021 at $27 per share, raising $1.227 billion at a $15.2 billion valuation. The company now processes over $84 billion quarterly, up 27 percent year-over-year. That’s over 40 billion transactions annually at 99.99 percent platform uptime.
Lithic arrived in 2014, but with a different founding story.
Three high school friends who reconnected built Privacy.com, a consumer virtual card product. Working with a legacy issuer processor for over a year exposed them to the broken supply chain: inflexible APIs, sluggish service, opaque pricing, and inability to rapidly iterate.
They built their own infrastructure from scratch instead.
By 2020, that infrastructure had matured enough to beta test a Card Issuing API for enterprises. Response was immediate. Enterprise issuing volumes tripled in four months. In May 2021, the company officially launched and rebranded to Lithic. By July 2021, just two months later, Lithic raised a $60 million Series C led by Stripes at an $800 million valuation.
The platform achieved 99.99 percent uptime through direct bare metal connections to Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. No intermediaries. No additional failure points. Customers consistently praised the APIs as the best they’d seen from any vendor. Exceptionally clear documentation. Intuitive design. Comprehensive sandbox environments.
Mercury processes hundreds of millions monthly, serving 100,000 businesses with over $95 billion in transactions in 2023 on Lithic’s platform. Novo launched the Novo Business Credit Card using Lithic’s Commercial Revolving Credit API. Parker offers corporate cards for eCommerce with net 60 to 90 payment terms. Order.co issues hundreds of thousands of single and multi-use virtual cards annually.
Highnote launched in October 2020 with an impeccable pedigree. CEO John MacIlwaine brought experience from Braintree, PayPal, Venmo, and LendingClub. CTO Kin Kee came from technical leadership roles at Braintree and LendingClub. They brought 40-plus years of combined fintech experience.
Their insight: embedded finance providers needed true end-to-end capabilities on a single platform.
In January 2025, Highnote became the only modern processor offering unified issuing and acquiring on a single API. The platform uses GraphQL APIs rather than REST, providing superior flexibility. The native immutable ledger built on double-entry accounting always stays in balance with real-time visibility.
Highnote raised $145 million total, including a $90 to 91 million Series B in December 2024 at a valuation exceeding $750 million. The embedded finance market the company targets reached $84 billion in 2023, with projected annual growth of 32.8 percent through 2030.
The Global Expansion: Regional Champions Emerge
While US-based processors dominated headlines, regional champions captured markets the Americans overlooked.
Paymentology was formed through a December 2021 merger between Paymentology UK (founded in 2014 to 2015, pioneering cloud-first processing in Europe and the UK) and Tutuka (a South African issuer processor serving Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East). This created geographic breadth unmatched by any other modern processor. Operations in 50-plus countries across five continents.
The company operates with 450-plus employees across 67 countries, supporting 24/7 operations across 14 time zones. It serves 400-plus clients globally, processing 1 billion transactions and $10 billion annually as of 2021. In October 2023, Paymentology became the first issuer processor in Europe to receive Visa Cloud Connect certification.
The platform’s multi-cloud architecture distinguishes it from competitors tied to single cloud providers. Active/Active data centers in strategic locations ensure maximum uptime. The company achieves 99.99 percent platform reliability while processing transactions where customers are located rather than routing through distant centers.
Visa’s acquisition of Pismo in June 2023 sent shockwaves through Latin America.
The $1 billion all-cash purchase represented one of the largest cross-border fintech deals in Latin American history. Ricardo Josua and his team of Brazilian payments veterans founded Pismo in 2016 to capitalize on Latin America’s progressive regulatory environment and massive underbanked population.
Brazil’s Central Bank embrace of instant payments (Pix), digital banking licenses, and financial inclusion mandates created fertile ground for cloud-native innovation. Pismo built infrastructure from scratch on AWS with a 100 percent cloud-native microservices architecture. Written without legacy constraints, the platform supports the deployment of new features without a single line of code through simple configuration.
The deal was completed in January 2024 with Pismo’s management team intact. The company now processes over $200 billion annually, handles 50 billion-plus API calls monthly, hosts 80 million accounts, and adds approximately 2.5 million accounts monthly. Citigroup chose Pismo for corporate demand deposit accounts in June 2023, validating enterprise readiness.
Pomelo launched in Buenos Aires in 2021 as the regional champion focused exclusively on Latin America. CEO Gastón Irigoyen (former CEO of Naranja X, CMO of Restorando acquired by TripAdvisor, early Google Argentina employee), Juan Fantoni (former Director of Fintech at Mastercard, where he signed agreements with Mercado Pago and Ualá), and Hernán Corral (former Head of Cards and Digital Accounts at Mercado Pago for 12 years) brought deep regional network effects.
The company raised $103 million total and now employs 265 people serving 100-plus corporate clients. Revenue grew 200 percent in 2023 and is expected to double again in 2024. Transaction volume grew seven times in 2023, with further eight times year-over-year growth in 2024. The platform handles 55 million transactions per day across Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Peru.
Belo issued over 1 million crypto cards in Argentina and delivered $2.4 million in bitcoin cashback in 2024 before launching in Peru. Rappi deployed prepaid cards for couriers with instant funding. Global66 used Pomelo for the Colombia launch in record time. Bitso, Stori, Nomad, and Bancolombia all run on the platform.
Pine Labs represents Asia’s answer to modern issuer processing.
The company started in 1998 in Noida, India, initially targeting petroleum retail with card-based payment and loyalty programs. By 2009, Pine Labs ventured into real payments processing. The company achieved unicorn status in January 2020 when Mastercard made a strategic investment at a valuation of over $5 billion.
Current operations span 100,000-plus merchants across India and Asian countries, with 350,000-plus cloud-based PoS terminals handling approximately 15 percent of India’s cashless transactions in physical retail. The company filed for $700 million US IPO in September 202,5 seeking $5.5 to 7 billion valuation.
The September 2024 launch of Credit+ platform represents Pine Labs’ comprehensive entry into modern issuer processing. Visa and Mastercard certified (with AmEx and additional domestic schemes in pipeline), the platform supports credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, co-branded cards, multicurrency cards, multi-pocket expense cards, BNPL, and installment solutions.
Pine Labs offers integrated merchant commerce and issuer processing, providing both acquiring (merchant PoS, payment processing) and issuing (card programs, prepaid solutions) from a single platform. This dual capability creates network effects: merchants acquired through PoS business can offer co-branded cards, while card issuers benefit from merchant acceptance infrastructure.
What Changed: The Cloud-Native Architecture Advantage
The technical differences between legacy and modern systems aren’t incremental improvements. They’re architectural paradigm shifts.
Legacy systems run on mainframes with COBOL codebases developed in the 1970s and 1980s. Batch processing handles transactions overnight. Rigid system architecture requires manual configuration for every change. Integration demands complex point-to-point connections. Scaling requires hardware upgrades measured in quarters.
Modern platforms run entirely on AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure. Microservices architecture enables independent scaling of components. Real-time processing eliminates batch delays. API-first design provides 100 percent data and function accessibility. Containerization through Kubernetes handles peak transaction loads automatically.
Time to market comparisons illustrate the magnitude of change.
Legacy systems require six to twelve months to launch new card products. Modern processors enable launches in three weeks with pre-approved white-labeled programs.
Days become possible using API-first platforms with established bank partnerships. Even without pre-existing bank integration, modern processors require four to six months for new bank relationships, but plug-and-play with existing partners takes just two to three weeks for BIN activation.
Cost structures shifted from capital expenditure to operational expenditure.
Legacy infrastructure consumes 60 to 80 percent of IT budgets on maintenance, hardware, and per-change fees. Modern SaaS models offer transparent pay-as-you-go pricing. Lower total cost of ownership through automation. SMBs historically spent $8 per supplier payment with traditional methods. Modern platforms reduce costs significantly through efficiency.
Developer experience improvements center on API-first architecture.
Real-time webhooks replace daily batch processing. Just-in-Time funding enables transaction-level authorization control. Sandbox environments enable rapid testing and prototyping. Pre-built integrations with digital wallets eliminate months of custom development. PCI DSS compliance embedded in platform architecture removes the significant implementation burden.
Dynamic spending controls by merchant category, location, amount, and time create flexibility that is impossible with legacy systems. Real-time transaction data access, including merchant, location, date, and currency, enables sophisticated fraud prevention. Programmable card authorization based on custom business rules powers unique user experiences. Tokenization for enhanced security becomes a standard rather than a custom feature.
The technical architecture explains speed. The business model explains accessibility.
The Modern Technology Stack: What Sits Underneath
Understanding modern issuer processing requires mapping the full technology stack, from network connections down through the application layer.
At the foundation sit direct network integrations.
Modern processors maintain bare metal connections to Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and regional networks like RuPay, UnionPay, and various domestic schemes. These direct connections eliminate intermediaries and additional failure points. Processors handle ISO 8583 messaging protocols, network certifications, and compliance requirements.
The processing core runs on cloud infrastructure. AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure provide compute, storage, and networking. Kubernetes orchestrates containerized microservices. Active/Active data centers across geographies ensure redundancy. Hardware Security Modules protect cryptographic keys in cloud environments, replacing physical HSMs required by legacy systems.
The transaction processing layer handles authorization and clearing. Real-time authorization engines evaluate transactions against spending controls, fraud rules, and available balances. Just-in-Time funding systems move money only when needed. Clearing and settlement components handle batch files with card networks. Reconciliation engines match authorizations to clearings with 99 percent accuracy.
Card management services sit above the processing core.
Virtual card issuance APIs generate card numbers instantly. Physical card production integrates with embossing partners and logistics providers. Digital wallet provisioning enables Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. Tokenization services replace card numbers with network tokens for enhanced security.
The control plane provides business logic. Spend controls restrict transactions by merchant category code, amount, velocity, time, and location. Fraud detection applies machine learning models to transaction patterns. Transaction data streams via webhooks in real-time. Multi-currency support handles forex conversions. Multi-geography support navigates regional regulations.
Program management capabilities enable product configuration. Card product definitions specify limits, fees, and terms. User management handles cardholder data and KYC. Account ledgers track balances and transactions with double-entry accuracy. Dispute management automates chargeback workflows. Reporting and analytics provide business intelligence.
The API layer exposes functionality to clients. RESTful or GraphQL APIs provide programmatic access. Sandbox environments enable testing without touching production. SDKs in Python, TypeScript, and other languages accelerate integration. Comprehensive documentation reduces implementation friction. Webhook notifications push real-time events.
Banking infrastructure connects above the processor. BIN sponsorships from partner banks provide the issuing bank relationship required by card networks. Deposits and funds flow management handles customer balances. Regulatory compliance satisfies banking regulations. KYC and AML screening protects against financial crime.
This modular architecture enables mix-and-match. Companies can bring their own KYC providers, sponsor banks, ledgers, transaction monitoring solutions, and loan servicing platforms. They can start with fully managed programs and evolve to processor-only relationships. Flexibility throughout the growth curve rather than vendor lock-in.
How Modern Processors Enable New Business Models
The democratization of issuer processing unlocked business models that were impossible with legacy infrastructure.
BNPL providers like Affirm and Klarna issue virtual cards for specific purchases. The card activates only for the approved merchant and amount. After the purchase, the card deactivates. This precise control requires real-time authorization logic impossible with batch processing systems.
Flexible credit products gained traction through modern infrastructure. Traditional credit cards operate on monthly billing cycles with fixed payment dates. Flex-credit products let users choose payment terms transaction-by-transaction. Buy expensive item, pay in installments. Buy cheap item, pay in full. This requires real-time decisioning at authorization and sophisticated ledger accounting.
Highnote’s Commercial Revolving Credit API, launched in December 2024, enables fintechs to offer commercial credit cards with flexible APR, billing periods, and fee management. Functionality historically limited to major banks became accessible through APIs.
Vertical SaaS platforms embed card issuing directly into their products. Property management software issues cards to landlords with merchant-linked offers. Restaurant management systems provide cards to owners with food supplier cashback. Construction software offers cards to contractors with Home Depot rewards.
These vertical plays work economically because modern processors’ pay-as-you-go pricing scales from zero. Launch with 10 customers, pay for 10 cards. Scale to 10,000, pay for 10,000. Legacy processors required minimum volumes and setup fees that made small programs uneconomical.
Crypto platforms integrated cards to bridge digital and physical spending. Belo issues crypto-backed cards in Latin America. Bitso enables crypto spending through Pomelo. Coinbase offers debit cards funded from crypto balances. These programs require real-time forex conversion and compliance screening, which is impossible with legacy batch systems.
Gig economy platforms issue instant payout cards. DoorDash Dashers receive virtual cards to pay for orders. Uber drivers get cards for gas and maintenance. Instacart shoppers receive cards for grocery purchases. The instant issuance and Just-in-Time funding enable these use cases.
Cross-border commerce gained new capabilities through multi-currency and multi-geography support. Wise issues cards with real-time exchange rates that are better than bank rates. Revolut offers cards that work seamlessly across 40 countries. Nomad provides US accounts to Latin American users. These products require sophisticated currency handling and regional compliance.
Corporate expense management has evolved beyond traditional procurement cards. Brex provides granular spend controls by employee, department, and merchant category. Ramp offers virtual cards with spend limits for specific vendors. Pleo issues cards to every employee with manager approval workflows. The control and visibility wouldn’t work with weekly batch reconciliation.
The pattern repeats across industries.
Modern processors enable localized (serving specific geographies like Pomelo in LatAm), specialized (serving specific use cases like BNPL or crypto), and verticalized (embedded in software for specific industries) business models. Each represents a card program that couldn’t economically exist with legacy infrastructure.
Why Visa and Mastercard Bet On Modern Processors
The card networks initially viewed modern processors with suspicion. New players handling issuer relationships threatened existing bank partnerships. Alternative rails threatened transaction volume.
That perspective flipped completely by 2020.
Visa launched the Fintech Fast Track Program, providing expedited onboarding for fintech partnerships. The program leverages Visa relationships with BIN sponsors, processors, and program managers. Accelerated program review and ramp. Access to exclusive resources and preferred terms. Airwallex quickly onboarded to the Visa network. Brazilian fintech launched cards via Visa Ready partner Dock in 13 days.
Mastercard’s Start Path Program operates as a six-month accelerator, receiving over 1,500 applications annually. The company has worked with 220 companies from 54 countries. Alumni raised $2.6 billion in collective funding. Mastercard notes that 90 percent of top digital payment and neobank fintechs choose Mastercard.
Strategic investments validated the networks’ pivot. Mastercard made a strategic financial investment in Marqeta in October 2020. Mastercard invested in Pine Labs at over $5 billion valuation in January 2020. Visa acquired Pismo for $1 billion in June 2023.
The strategic logic became clear. Faster program launches mean more card programs launched, increasing transaction volumes across networks. Modern processors enable long-tail issuers, fintechs, neobanks, and non-bank brands to enter markets previously restricted to traditional financial institutions. More issuers mean more volume, even if individual programs start small.
Visa CEO Ryan McInerney acknowledged at 2025 Investor Day that the company is “increasingly locking arms with some of those upstart rivals.” Goals include increasing revenue from Value-Added Services and new payment flows to 50 percent of revenue, up from 30 percent in 2024. The Pismo acquisition demonstrated a commitment to providing core banking and issuer processing capabilities via cloud-native APIs.
The networks recognized that infrastructure commoditization helps them. When launching a card program takes 12 months and millions of dollars, only large banks bother. When launching takes three weeks and pay-as-you-go pricing, thousands of companies launch programs. Volume scales logarithmically with accessibility.
What This Means For Everyone In Payments
The democratization of issuer processing creates both threats and opportunities, depending on where you sit.
For legacy processors, the threat is existential.
Modern platforms grew market share from near-zero to 6.2 percent in under a decade. They’re growing five times faster. By 2034, projections show modern and legacy processors splitting the market evenly. That’s complete restructuring in 20 years from the first modern processor launch.
Legacy responses included modernization efforts.
Fiserv acquired Finxact for cloud-native core banking with 100 percent API accessibility. FIS invested in Profile banking application with open-source technologies and API-first integration. These efforts face the innovator’s dilemma: cannibalize existing revenue or let competitors do it.
The 2025 market consolidation reversal signals strategic repositioning.
FIS acquired Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions for $13.5 billion, while Global Payments acquired Worldpay from FIS for $22.7 billion, demonstrating that combining issuing and acquiring didn’t create the expected synergies. Companies refocus on core strengths.
For banks and traditional issuers, the landscape shifted fundamentally.
Tech-savvy competitors launch products in weeks that take them months. Fintech startups offer features requiring major IT projects. The infrastructure advantage banks held for decades evaporated.
Smart banks partner with modern processors rather than build internally. They leverage processor infrastructure while maintaining customer relationships. They focus on regulatory compliance, risk management, and customer service rather than maintaining mainframes.
For fintechs and neobanks, modern processors removed the primary barrier to launching financial products. What once required banking licenses, compliance expertise, and years of development now requires API integration. The 29,955 fintech startups globally as of 2025 (150 percent increase over seven years) demonstrate the explosion of companies leveraging this infrastructure.
For vertical SaaS platforms, embedded finance became viable.
Property management software, restaurant management systems, construction platforms, healthcare practice management, and thousands of other vertical solutions can now offer cards. These aren’t adjacent businesses. They’re core feature differentiation.
For payment processors and PSPs, the question becomes strategic positioning.
Do you compete with card issuers by offering issuing services?
Do you partner with issuer processors to provide complete solutions?
Do you focus on merchant acquiring and stay out of issuing?
The unbundling of issuing and acquiring creates new strategic choices.
For consumers and businesses, the result is more choice, better products, and faster innovation. Specialized products for specific use cases rather than one-size-fits-all bank cards. Real-time features instead of waiting for overnight batch processing. Transparent pricing rather than hidden fees.
The infrastructure revolution in issuer processing doesn’t create winners and losers based on who picked the right technology. It creates winners based on who recognized that infrastructure commoditization unlocks value at the application layer.
Companies that spend engineering resources maintaining payment infrastructure compete with companies focused entirely on customer experience. Companies that require 12-month implementation timelines compete with companies launching in three weeks. Companies with cost structures built for legacy systems compete with companies leveraging pay-as-you-go pricing.
The modern issuer processing infrastructure represents the most significant market restructuring in payments since card networks moved from magnetic stripes to chips.
Unlike that transition, which took nearly two decades, this one’s moving fast. By 2034, the market will be split evenly between modern and legacy. That’s 10 years away. Not enough time to wait and see how things develop.
The infrastructure is democratized. The question is what you build on top of it.
Thank You for Reading. Please like, Comment, Share, or Post on Your Social media. I appreciate all the feedback I can get.
P.S. If you’re interested in collaborating with me on a larger scale, whether through speaking, advisory services, or consulting, please don’t hesitate to email or DM me.
Awesome overview Dwayne. As someone who led Visa's API strategy for instant digital issuance through the fintech boom, you pretty much nailed it. What remains surprising though is the lock-in power that the legacy processors have and that most of the tradfi card portfolios still ride on antiquated stacks. We shall see what happens as the rise of new Banking AI & agentic commerce experiences enabled by the likes of Ramp, Brex or Monzo etc. continue to lap anything offered by incumbent issuers.
Dwayne, this is an excellent overview of the payments landscape and the innovations driving its continued evolution. The card networks’ increased investment in fintech signals a surge of opportunity for builders targeting niche markets. For those looking to establish a foothold, now is the time, especially as modern processors begin to expand their revenue share beyond 6.2%.
I’m particularly curious how competition for total payment volume (TPV) among sponsor banks will shift as these processors accelerate speed to market and lower integration barriers.