EST. 2012 CODEGO GROUP LTD · MALTA BANKING AS A SERVICE LOCAL IBAN · 15 COUNTRIES SEPA · SEPA INSTANT · SWIFT · 21 CCY PCI DSS CERTIFIED 2025 API FIRST · WEBHOOKS 79 COUNTRIES DEPOSITS MULTI-CURRENCY · 12+ FIAT $1.1BN PROCESSED 2025 EST. 2012 CODEGO GROUP LTD · MALTA BANKING AS A SERVICE LOCAL IBAN · 15 COUNTRIES SEPA · SEPA INSTANT · SWIFT · 21 CCY PCI DSS CERTIFIED 2025 API FIRST · WEBHOOKS 79 COUNTRIES DEPOSITS MULTI-CURRENCY · 12+ FIAT $1.1BN PROCESSED 2025
Codego · Banking infrastructure · est. 2012 Comparison · Vol. XII · Issue 06/2026 ● Live · 7 regions · Malta HQ
CMP

Codego vs Kulipa.
An honest comparison
of crypto card programmes and white-label banking infrastructure.

Kulipa is one of the newest entrants in crypto payments: a stablecoin-native card issuing platform, built so that card spend settles directly from on-chain stablecoin balances and self-custody or custodial wallets. Codego approaches the same opportunity from the position of an established, licensed issuer — twelve years old, with roughly 366,000 cards issued across 59 programmes, dual-scheme BIN sponsorship and multi-region issuing under one console. Both let a cardholder spend a stablecoin balance at the till; the question is whether you want a crypto-first stack still scaling its footprint, or a proven banking-and-issuing platform that adds crypto funding on top of native EU IBANs, SEPA Instant and seven-region reach.

Talk to Codego Comparison table
01
At a glance

At a glance

  Codego Kulipa
Headquarters Malta (EU) Paris, France
Founded 2012 2023
Regulatory framework Locally licensed issuers and BINs per region; partner EMIs; pan-EU passporting Local-first regulated coverage in EU, Argentina and Nigeria; US via BIN sponsorship (in progress)
Card schemes Visa and Mastercard, both with BIN sponsorship Visa and Mastercard acceptance via issuing partners
White-label crypto / stablecoin cards First-class: stablecoin and crypto-funded with real-time crypto-to-fiat conversion First-class and stablecoin-native: settles natively from on-chain stablecoin balances and wallets
Global issuing reach 7 regions: EU, US, UAE, Asia, Africa, LATAM, Oceania — one console EU, Argentina, Nigeria; US expansion underway
EU IBAN issuance Native via partner EMIs; SEPA, SEPA Instant, SWIFT Focus on stablecoin accounts; native EU IBAN not a core offering
Time to launch Virtual cards quickly; live programme by ~day 15 Modern API onboarding; timeline varies by region and licence path
Self-service sandbox / API Yes — public REST API docs, self-serve sandbox keys, no-code console Yes — developer-oriented stablecoin card issuing API
Apple Pay / Google Pay Provisioned within 24 hours Supported via Visa / Mastercard tokenisation
Pricing model Revenue share + interchange; transparent B2B infrastructure pricing Interchange monetisation on stablecoin card spend
02
Where Codego is the stronger choice

Where Codego is the stronger choice

Twelve years of operating history and proven scale

Codego has been building card and banking infrastructure since 2012. Across that period the platform has issued roughly 366,000 cards, run 59 distinct programmes and processed in the order of $1.1 billion. Kulipa is a credible and fast-growing startup — founded in 2023, live since early 2025 — but it is at an earlier stage of its scale curve. For a fintech, neobank or programme manager placing a multi-year bet on its issuing partner, the difference between a twelve-year track record and a platform still building its first chapters is a genuine input to risk and due-diligence decisions. Codego's Banking-as-a-Service layer has been load-tested by real programmes at volume.

Dual-scheme BIN sponsorship — Visa and Mastercard

Codego holds BIN sponsorship on both Visa and Mastercard, which is operationally significant. Many acquiring markets, corporate expense programmes and co-brand arrangements prefer or require a specific scheme. Owning a direct BIN-sponsor relationship on both networks lets you run parallel programmes or pick the scheme per market without renegotiating your foundational partnership. Codego's card issuing infrastructure treats dual-scheme as a default, not a roadmap item — useful when your geography or your end customers' acceptance landscape pushes you toward one network over another.

Native EU IBAN issuance with SEPA Instant

Kulipa's centre of gravity is stablecoin accounts and on-chain settlement. Codego complements crypto funding with native EU IBAN issuance through partner EMIs, carrying full SEPA Instant, standard SEPA and SWIFT connectivity in the core platform. For any programme that needs to hold client funds in fiat, receive payroll or pension credits, or move money to and from the traditional banking rails, native IBAN issuance is the architecture that scales. It means your cardholders are not confined to an on-chain world — they can move between fiat and stablecoin balances inside one programme.

Seven-region issuing footprint from one console

Codego issues through locally licensed issuers and BINs across seven regions — the EU, US, UAE, Asia, Africa, LATAM and Oceania — all managed from a single console. Kulipa runs a similar local-first philosophy but with regulated coverage today in the EU, Argentina and Nigeria, plus US expansion in progress. If your roadmap targets the Gulf, broader Asia or Oceania, Codego already operates licensed issuing there. Consolidating multi-region issuing under one core banking layer avoids stitching together separate vendors per geography, each with its own contract, reconciliation format and KYC pipeline.

Developer-first API and self-service sandbox

Codego is built for engineers. The REST API is documented openly at developers.codegotech.com, sandbox keys are self-provisioned at apikey-visacard-sandbox.codegotech.com, and the API base is https://vcc-sandbox.codegotech.com/api/v1 with a simple X-Api-Key: vcck_sbx_… header. Teams that prefer no-code can configure a full programme through the white-label console at vcc-whitelabel-sandbox.codegotech.com. You can test card issuance end-to-end before any commercial commitment — the same self-serve, try-before-you-buy posture crypto-native teams expect.

Compliance and certification you can show your bank

Codego is PCI DSS Level 1 certified (Adsigo, 2025) and operates through regulated, locally licensed issuers and EMIs. For programmes that will face their own auditors, acquiring banks or scheme compliance teams, that certification and the documented partner-licence structure are concrete artefacts you can put in a data room. A crypto-first startup will get there, but Codego's white-label crypto card programmes already sit on top of an established, certified banking-and-issuing stack rather than a stack still maturing its compliance footprint.

03
Where Kulipa is the stronger choice

Where Kulipa is the stronger choice

Honesty matters. Kulipa is a sharp, well-funded crypto-native team, and there are scenarios where it is the better answer.

Stablecoin-native, on-chain-first card settlement

Kulipa is engineered from the ground up for stablecoins. Card spend settles natively from on-chain stablecoin balances, and issuance can be linked directly to self-custody or custodial wallets. If your product is fundamentally a stablecoin wallet — and you want card settlement to live as close to the chain as possible, with minimal fiat abstraction in between — Kulipa's architecture is purpose-built for exactly that. Codego supports stablecoin- and crypto-funded cards with real-time conversion, but it does so on top of a traditional banking-and-issuing stack rather than as a chain-first primitive.

Web3-native programmability and a modern crypto stack

For teams that think in smart contracts, programmable money and on-chain composability, Kulipa speaks the same language. Its founding team carries deep card-network pedigree (its CEO previously led Apple Pay and Google Pay deployments at Mastercard), and the platform is designed around the assumption that the wallet, the balance and the settlement are crypto-first. If your engineers want to wire card issuance directly into on-chain flows and self-custody UX, a stablecoin-native platform can feel more idiomatic than adapting a banking-led stack to a web3 product.

A focused, modern crypto-first product for wallet builders

Kulipa is deliberately narrow: stablecoin payment products, accounts and card issuing, delivered through one compliant crypto-native stack. For an early-stage crypto wallet or DeFi-adjacent product whose roadmap is squarely about spending stablecoins — and which does not need EU IBANs, SEPA, multi-region fiat issuing or the broader card-product catalogue — that focus can mean a faster, cleaner integration with fewer concepts to reason about. Codego's breadth is an asset for full-stack fintechs and a slightly larger surface area for a team that only wants the stablecoin card primitive.

04
Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Q1.Is Codego a stablecoin-native card platform like Kulipa?
Codego supports stablecoin- and crypto-funded card programmes with on-the-fly crypto-to-fiat conversion at the point of sale, alongside fiat and EU IBAN funding. Kulipa is built stablecoin-first, with card spend settling natively from on-chain stablecoin balances. Both let cardholders spend from a stablecoin balance; the difference is architectural. Codego layers crypto funding on top of a full, licensed banking-and-issuing stack — EU IBANs, SEPA, dual scheme, multi-region issuing — whereas Kulipa is a newer crypto-native stack focused tightly on stablecoin card issuance and programmable on-chain money.
Q2.How does Codego's global issuing reach compare to Kulipa's?
Codego issues cards through locally licensed issuers and BINs across seven regions — the EU, US, UAE, Asia, Africa, LATAM and Oceania — all managed from a single console. Kulipa operates a local-first issuing model with regulated coverage in the European Union, Argentina and Nigeria, with US expansion underway through BIN sponsorship. Both follow a local-licence approach, but Codego's footprint is broader today, spanning seven regions against Kulipa's emerging EU-Argentina-Nigeria coverage.
Q3.Does Codego offer a self-service sandbox and API like Kulipa?
Yes. Codego is developer-first: full REST API documentation is published at developers.codegotech.com, sandbox keys are self-provisioned at apikey-visacard-sandbox.codegotech.com, and the API base is vcc-sandbox.codegotech.com/api/v1 with an X-Api-Key header in the form vcck_sbx_…. For teams that prefer no-code, Codego also runs a white-label console at vcc-whitelabel-sandbox.codegotech.com. You can integrate, test card issuance and configure a programme before signing anything.
Q4.Does Codego issue EU IBANs natively the way it issues cards?
Yes. Codego provisions native EU IBANs through partner EMIs with SEPA, SEPA Instant and SWIFT connectivity built into the core platform. That means a Codego programme can hold client funds, receive payroll credits and enable transfers without depending on a third-party banking layer. Kulipa centres on stablecoin accounts and card settlement; native EU IBAN issuance and SEPA Instant are part of Codego's core banking stack rather than the focus of a stablecoin-first card platform.
Q5.How fast can I launch a programme with Codego?
Codego's onboarding delivers virtual cards quickly and a live programme in roughly 15 days, with physical cards following the production cycle you define. Twelve years of operating experience, an established BIN-sponsor network across seven regions and a self-service sandbox mean the integration path is well-trodden. You can start building against the sandbox immediately and move to production once your programme configuration and KYC flows are signed off.
Q6.Which crypto card schemes and wallets does Codego support?
Codego supports both Visa and Mastercard with BIN sponsorship, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay provisioning so cardholders get a native mobile wallet experience. Programmes can be funded from stablecoin or crypto balances with real-time crypto-to-fiat conversion, or from fiat and EU IBAN balances. Codego is PCI DSS Level 1 certified (Adsigo, 2025), has issued roughly 366,000 cards across 59 programmes and processed about $1.1 billion, giving the platform proven scale behind dual-scheme, multi-region crypto card issuing.