EST. 2012 CODEGO GROUP LTD · MALTA BANKING AS A SERVICE EU IBAN · 6 COUNTRIES SEPA · SEPA INSTANT · SWIFT PCI DSS CERTIFIED 2025 API FIRST · WEBHOOKS 79 COUNTRIES DEPOSITS MULTI-CURRENCY · EUR · GBP · USD $1.1BN PROCESSED 2025 EST. 2012 CODEGO GROUP LTD · MALTA BANKING AS A SERVICE EU IBAN · 6 COUNTRIES SEPA · SEPA INSTANT · SWIFT PCI DSS CERTIFIED 2025 API FIRST · WEBHOOKS 79 COUNTRIES DEPOSITS MULTI-CURRENCY · EUR · GBP · USD $1.1BN PROCESSED 2025
Codego · Banking infrastructure · est. 2012 Comparison · Vol. XII · Issue 04/2026 ● Live · 12 countries · Malta HQ
CMP

Codego vs ClearBank.
An honest comparison
of banking infrastructure and BaaS.

ClearBank is a Bank of England-licensed clearing bank with deep roots in UK payment rails, offering fintechs direct access to Faster Payments, BACS, and CHAPS. Codego is a European Banking-as-a-Service infrastructure provider combining native EU IBAN issuance, dual-scheme card programmes, and first-class crypto card support across 12 countries. For teams that need a fully configured programme live in production rather than weeks away, Codego's 15-day end-to-end launch is a structural advantage.

Talk to Codego Comparison table
01
At a glance

At a glance

  Codego ClearBank
Headquarters Malta (EU) London, UK (EU entity: Amsterdam, NL)
Founded 2012 2017
Regulatory framework NBB EMI distribution licence; Codego Europe SIA EMI (in process); pan-EU passporting Bank of England full banking licence; ClearBank Europe under DNB (Netherlands)
Card schemes Visa and Mastercard — native BIN sponsorship on both Limited native card support; typically integrates third-party card processors
White-label crypto cards Yes — stablecoin and crypto-funded with on-the-fly conversion No native crypto card support
EU IBAN issuance Native issuance in 6 EU countries; SEPA, SEPA Instant, SWIFT Via ClearBank Europe (NL); post-Brexit EU rails separate from UK infrastructure
UK clearing rails Via partner banks Direct member: Faster Payments, BACS, CHAPS
Time-to-launch ~15 days (virtual cards day 1, physical cards day 15) Typically 8 to 16 weeks
Self-service portal Yes — full programme configuration API-first; configuration primarily via integration and support
Apple Pay / Google Pay Provisioned within 24 hours Dependent on card processor partner and scheme certification timeline
Pricing model Transparent per-programme and per-transaction structure Volume-based; enterprise commercial agreements
02
Where Codego is the stronger choice

Where Codego is the stronger choice

15-day go-live across card and account

Codego's Banking-as-a-Service infrastructure is purpose-built to compress time-to-revenue. Virtual cards are live on day one; physical cards ship by day fifteen. The self-service portal lets programme managers configure spend controls, velocity limits, and fee schedules without waiting on an integration queue. For fintechs, neobanks, and corporate treasury teams under commercial pressure, the contrast with an 8-to-16-week bank-licensed onboarding is decisive. Codego's card-issuing platform handles both consumer and corporate programmes from a single API surface.

Dual-scheme BIN sponsorship — Visa and Mastercard

Holding native BIN sponsorship on both Visa and Mastercard simultaneously is rare at the infrastructure layer. Most BaaS providers offer one or the other, or route through an intermediary that introduces latency and additional margin. Codego's BIN sponsorship arrangement means clients can issue under either scheme — or both — within the same programme, optimising for acceptance geography, interchange economics, and co-brand requirements without switching providers. This dual-scheme capability is a structural gap ClearBank does not natively fill.

First-class crypto and stablecoin card programmes

Codego's white-label crypto card product supports stablecoin-funded and crypto-funded cards with on-the-fly conversion at point of sale. Cardholders spend against a crypto balance; merchants receive fiat settlement through standard Visa or Mastercard rails. This is a native capability, not a bolted-on integration with a third-party custody provider. For Web3 companies, crypto exchanges, and digital-asset treasury operations that need a compliant spend layer without building conversion infrastructure themselves, Codego removes months of technical and regulatory overhead.

Native EU IBAN issuance with SEPA Instant

Codego issues EU IBANs natively across six countries, with full support for SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant, and SWIFT. This is not a correspondent-banking arrangement or a single-jurisdiction account labelled as "EU" — it is direct IBAN issuance at the infrastructure level. Programmes requiring multi-country account structures, instant euro settlement, or embedded accounts within a white-label bank product can be designed and configured without leaving the Codego stack.

Apple Pay and Google Pay in under 24 hours

Tokenisation for Apple Pay and Google Pay is provisioned within 24 hours of card issuance. In an environment where digital-wallet acceptance is a baseline user expectation rather than a premium feature, this timeline matters commercially. ClearBank's route to digital-wallet provisioning runs through its card processor partners, where scheme certification timelines and integration dependencies can extend provisioning by weeks. Codego's card-processing platform handles tokenisation natively, removing that dependency entirely.

Full white-label product suite in one infrastructure layer

Beyond card issuance, Codego's platform spans expense cards, gift cards, POS terminals, and core banking modules — all accessible through the same commercial relationship and API. This matters for clients building layered financial products: an expense management platform, for instance, can add a gift card line or a POS acceptance product without sourcing a second infrastructure partner. ClearBank's product surface is narrower, concentrated on clearing and custody rather than the full card and account lifecycle.

03
Where ClearBank is the stronger choice

Where ClearBank is the stronger choice

Honesty matters. There are scenarios where ClearBank is the better answer.

Direct access to UK payment rails

ClearBank holds direct membership of Faster Payments, BACS, and CHAPS — the three core UK clearing systems. For a fintech whose primary market is the United Kingdom and whose product depends on same-day or near-instant GBP settlement, this is a genuine structural advantage. Routing through a sponsor bank introduces a layer of dependency and cost; ClearBank removes it. If UK clearing efficiency is the central requirement, ClearBank's banking licence earns its complexity premium.

Bank of England-backed segregated custody

Customer funds held by ClearBank sit in segregated accounts at the Bank of England — a custody model that carries significant weight with institutional clients, regulators, and sophisticated retail depositors. This is qualitatively different from EMI-regime safeguarding. For programmes where the credibility of fund protection is itself a product feature — pension-linked accounts, regulated savings products, or institutional payment flows — ClearBank's full banking licence and custody structure are difficult to replicate within an EMI framework.

Enterprise-scale UK sponsor bank relationships

ClearBank has become a preferred sponsor bank for a number of UK-licensed fintechs and e-money institutions that need an indirect route into UK clearing without holding their own banking licence. If a business is already operating under an FCA EMI or PI licence and requires a UK-domiciled sponsor bank with proven operational scale, ClearBank's track record and direct scheme membership make it a credible, well-understood counterparty in that specific role.

04
Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Q1.Can Codego support both EU and UK payment needs?
Codego's native infrastructure covers EU IBANs, SEPA, SEPA Instant, and SWIFT across six EU countries. UK GBP rails are accessed via partner arrangements rather than direct clearing membership. For programmes centred on European markets, Codego covers the full requirement. For programmes where direct UK Faster Payments or CHAPS membership is critical, a hybrid approach — Codego for EU card and account infrastructure, ClearBank for UK clearing — is a commercially viable architecture.
Q2.How does Codego's crypto card work at point of sale?
When a cardholder makes a purchase, Codego's crypto card infrastructure converts the relevant crypto or stablecoin balance to fiat at the prevailing rate in real time. The merchant receives a standard Visa or Mastercard fiat settlement — the crypto layer is invisible to the acquiring side. Programme managers can configure which assets are eligible, set conversion sequencing, and define FX spread parameters through the self-service portal. No separate custody integration is required from the client.
Q3.What does 15-day launch actually include?
Virtual card issuance is operational on day one following programme configuration. Physical card production and delivery completes by day fifteen under standard timelines. The 15-day figure covers programme setup, BIN configuration, API integration support, spend-control configuration, and Apple Pay and Google Pay tokenisation provisioning. It assumes standard KYB documentation is submitted promptly. Complex programmes with bespoke card designs or multi-currency structures may extend the physical card timeline modestly; virtual issuance remains day one regardless. See card issuing for full scope.
Q4.Is Codego regulated across the EU?
Codego operates under an NBB electronic-money distribution licence and is pursuing a full EMI licence via Codego Europe SIA. Pan-EU passporting extends programme reach across the 12 countries currently served. The regulatory framework is EMI-regime rather than a full banking licence, which is the standard model for card-issuing and BaaS infrastructure providers. Client funds are safeguarded in accordance with EU Payment Services Directive requirements. The BaaS glossary entry covers the regulatory distinctions in detail.
Q5.Does Codego offer expense card programmes separately from full BaaS?
Yes. Expense card programmes are available as a standalone product or as a component within a broader white-label bank deployment. Corporate clients can issue employee expense cards with configurable spend categories, merchant category code restrictions, and real-time transaction feeds without purchasing the full platform stack. Programme managers access configuration through the self-service portal; cardholders receive Apple Pay and Google Pay provisioning within 24 hours of issuance.
Q6.How do the two providers compare on pricing transparency?
Codego operates on a transparent per-programme and per-transaction fee structure, with pricing accessible through the commercial enquiry process. ClearBank operates on enterprise commercial agreements negotiated based on volume and product scope — pricing is not publicly disclosed and is typically reached through a formal sales process that mirrors the longer onboarding timeline. For early-stage fintechs or teams modelling unit economics before committing to infrastructure, Codego's approach to pricing transparency reduces the commercial discovery period considerably.