Beyond the BIN

When I first helped issue cards in the United States with AID:Tech, I learned the hard way that “global” is a myth if you do not control the plumbing. We launched a working program in one market; the moment we tried to extend it elsewhere, the real constraints appeared. We needed a local sponsor bank, a fresh BIN range, an issuer processor with country coverage, new KYC and AML controls, different statement formats, and often a completely different network setup. Cards scaled by jurisdiction, not by intent.

That world is changing. Stablecoins are turning funding and settlement into an always-on rail. AI is making program governance, spend controls, and risk management programmable and explainable. And the networks are opening the door to agent-driven commerce, where an AI can safely initiate a payment on your behalf. The result is a realistic path to “issue once, operate many,” with local compliance intact.

This piece breaks down what it now takes to launch and scale card programs across borders, how stablecoins fit into issuance and settlement, and why AI will become the control plane that keeps everything safe.

1. The old world: why issuing did not travel well

Traditional card programs are bound to local realities. To issue a Visa or Mastercard product, you either become a principal member or work under a sponsor. You need licensing, collateral, settlement accounts, and the operational stack around them. If you have never lived through it, the official rulebooks are sobering: see Visa’s Core Rules and Mastercard’s Rules for the country-by-country obligations that make “copy and paste” issuing impossible.

Then add domestic schemes. In France, Cartes Bancaires cards are usually co-badged with Visa or Mastercard and the cardholder must be offered a brand choice at checkout. That is not an optional UX flourish; it is mandatory. A practical summary is here: co-badged card compliance in the EEA. In Germany, Girocard works domestically and relies on co-badging for international acceptance, which is another reminder that cards live under local rules first.

Now layer in data residency. India’s central bank requires payments data to be stored in the country, which forces global programs to build regional data planes and careful replication strategies. A good primer is the RBI’s Storage of Payment System Data FAQ.

Finally, remember the security baseline. If you touch PAN data, PCI DSS applies. The primary references are the PCI SSC Document Library and the high-level PCI DSS overview.

2. What changed in 2024 and 2025

Two shifts matter most.

Stablecoins entered the issuing stack, not just the checkout page. Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement program to support more assets and more blockchains, turning on-chain dollars into a serious treasury tool rather than a side experiment. Read the official update here: Visa expands stablecoin settlement support.

At the same time, Stripe completed its acquisition of Bridge, a stablecoin platform that helps convert digital dollars to fiat at the point of use. Stripe has publicly described how a card purchase can deduct from a stablecoin balance and convert to fiat so that the merchant is paid locally. See Stripe completes Bridge acquisition and a useful industry recap here: a16z on the acquisition.

The startup side is accelerating too. Rain announced a fresh Series B to scale its enterprise stablecoin infrastructure for cards and wallets, which is a clear signal that this is moving from niche to mainstream. See Rain raises $58M Series B.

AI matured from a back-office helper to a control plane. It is now realistic to express program rules as intent, monitor prompts and actions, and maintain an auditable replay of every decision. If you want the regulatory mindset that will shape this, start with FINRA’s public materials on how firms should use and supervise AI in financial workflows: FINRA AI report and FINRA AI applications. The same supervision principles apply in payments. The system that can show its work will win the trust battle.

3. How stablecoins actually fit into issuing

There are three patterns that matter:

a) Stablecoin-funded balances that spend like any card
This is the model many consumers know from crypto cards. A user holds digital dollars in a wallet. At authorization, the program liquidates the stablecoin and funds a fiat settlement so the merchant is paid normally. A canonical example is the Coinbase Visa debit program, which uses just-in-time funding to convert at the moment of purchase. See the Marqeta x Coinbase case study and the Coinbase Card page. Other programs include the Crypto.com Visa Card and the BitPay Card.

The new twist is that providers like Stripe with Bridge, and companies like Rain, are turning this into enterprise-grade infrastructure rather than one-off programs. See Stripe on Bridge and stablecoin cards.

b) Stablecoin settlement between program parties
Even when cardholders never touch a token, the issuer, acquirer, or processor can settle obligations in USDC or other stable assets. Visa’s expanded settlement program allows issuers to use stablecoins for interparty netting, reducing costs by up to 2%. See Visa’s stablecoin settlement details. This pattern is gaining traction as networks like Circle’s USDC infrastructure support B2B payments.

c) Programmable stablecoin vaults for issuance funding
Issuers can pre-fund card programs with stablecoin vaults, drawing down as needed for authorization. This minimizes capital tie-up and leverages blockchain transparency. Tether’s USDT settlement guide outlines how vaults streamline funding, a model fintechs are adopting for scalability.

4. Global issuing that actually scales

You do not need to become a global bank to run a global card program, but you do need to compose the right partners. On the network side, Adyen Issuing lets you create Visa and Mastercard cards and control authorization logic through an API with a single global system. Stripe Issuing is available in many countries with controls for spend limits, currencies, and card design. See How to launch an issuing product. Checkout.com partnered with Visa to offer issuing in the UK and Europe, with an emphasis on moving money quickly within the same platform. For multi-market coverage, Nium offers issuing in over 30 markets alongside deep cross-border payouts. Under the hood, issuer processors such as Thredd provide the plumbing that many programs rely on.

Two controls make global realistic. Co badging and brand choice in the EEA. If you issue in Europe, you must respect the cardholder's choice of network on co-badged cards. Data residency and record keeping. Store and process data where regulators require, then ship only the metadata you need for global analytics. If you plan to operate in India, study the RBI's storage rules. See RBI data storage FAQ. Security baseline: if you hold or process card data, PCI DSS 4.x is the reference standard. See the PCI SSC Document Library.

5. AI becomes the program manager

The most powerful shift in card issuing is intent-based orchestration. Imagine a program where a finance lead sets: "Allow purchases at MCCs for travel and SaaS, cap monthly spend at fifteen thousand per card, require manager approval above two thousand. If a charge appears from a blocked category, notify me and block the card until I approve." An AI agent translates that into scheme rules, authorization decisions, and alerts.

To make this safe, you need Know Your Agent controls. Bind permissions to a specific agent identity, keep a full action log, and set thresholds that force a human review. The supervision mindset outlined by securities regulators applies here as well.

My view: AI does not replace card program managers. It removes the swivel chair tasks, exposes the policy surface in plain language, and makes compliance demonstrable. The issuer that can show its work will win enterprise deals.

6. Case studies worth watching right now

Rain and stablecoin cards

Rain's raise signals enterprise demand for stablecoin-powered issuance. Programs like Rain's are best known for letting users spend digital dollars anywhere Visa is accepted, while handling conversion and settlement in the background.

Stripe, Bridge, and stablecoin-funded cards

Stripe's acquisition of Bridge and the company's public demos explain a straightforward flow. The cardholder pays as normal. Bridge converts from a stablecoin balance so the merchant receives fiat.

Tokenization everywhere

If you are building for wallets and wearables, study the tokenization docs. See Visa Token Service and Mastercard MDES developer.

7. Predictions for the next decade

By 2030, 60% of card transactions will involve stablecoins, and AI-driven cards will cut FX costs by 90%, enabling real-time multi-currency spends. Blockchains will replace 50% of BIN sponsors with on-chain compliance.

Stablecoins and Blockchains are rewriting card issuing, making it borderless. At Synaptic Finance, I unpack these trends. Subscribe for insights, or connect on X @DennehyNiall to discuss.