Payment Platforms Diversify Offerings to Meet Growing Business Demands

The companies that initially supported FinTech startups with card issuing services are now expanding into broader payments solutions, recognizing customers’ evolving needs. This strategic shift positions these platforms as comprehensive payment hubs rather than just card processors.

Several factors drive this trend: first, once a company establishes itself in a customer’s payments operation, there’s an opportunity to generate additional business through related services; second, card programs are increasingly being deployed across multiple countries and product categories (commercial credit, BNPL, etc.).

Recent partnerships illustrate this evolution:

• Lithic partnered with Monavate to offer combined processing technology and regulated issuing capabilities in a single platform
• Lead Bank issues Visa cards through Lightspark, with settlement handled in USDC via Lithic’s processing network

Expanding Payment Ecosystems

Marqeta exemplifies this trend with its impressive growth: $120 billion processed in Q2, up 32% year over year. Key highlights include:

• Expense management volume growing over 50%
• Lending (including BNPL) rising more than 40%
• International volume exceeding 20% of total processing

Marqeta’s partnership with Banking Circle extends its account and money movement services to 30 additional European countries, adding multicurrency accounts and local payment rails alongside card issuing.

Commercial Payments Opportunity

The shift goes beyond consumer payments. Marqeta is now offering ACH, real-time payments, push-to-card, and wire capabilities in key markets—recognizing that most B2B payments still occur outside of traditional card networks.

As Mike Milotich, CEO of Marqeta, noted: “Commercial customers increasingly want to utilize multiple payment rails through one platform.” This positions card issuing as just one component of a larger payments relationship for businesses.

Ramp’s expansion into Australia, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, and Mexico demonstrates how companies are taking successful programs global. Highnote added U.S. merchant acquiring to its issuing business, creating a unified platform for both pay-ins and payouts.

The perimeter of issuer processing is expanding beyond simple card transactions to include accounts, non-card rails, merchant acceptance, risk services, and new settlement methods—all centered around the initial entry point of the payment card.