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
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Codego · Banking infrastructure · est. 2012 Comparison · Vol. XII · Issue 04/2026 ● Live · 12 countries · Malta HQ
CMP

Codego vs Railsr.
An honest comparison
of Banking-as-a-Service providers.

Codego and Railsr both sit in the embedded-finance stack, offering card issuing, accounts, and BaaS infrastructure to fintechs and enterprises. Railsr carries a well-known brand and a UK FCA EMI licence, but has navigated significant commercial restructuring since 2023 that has prompted a number of clients to reassess their platform dependencies. Codego, operating under a NBB electronic-money distribution licence with pan-EU passporting and an EMI application in progress, launches programmes end-to-end in as little as 15 days — a timeline Railsr's typical 6 to 12 week onboarding cannot match.

Talk to Codego Comparison table
01
At a glance

At a glance

  Codego Railsr
Headquarters Malta, EU London, UK
Founded 2012 2016 (rebranded from Railsbank 2022)
Regulatory framework NBB e-money distribution licence; Codego Europe SIA EMI application in progress; pan-EU passporting across 12 countries UK FCA EMI licence; reduced EU footprint following 2023 restructuring
Card schemes Visa and Mastercard, both with BIN sponsorship Visa and Mastercard
White-label crypto cards Yes — stablecoin and crypto-funded with on-the-fly conversion Not a core offering
EU IBAN issuance Native issuance in 6 EU countries; SEPA, SEPA Instant, and SWIFT Limited following restructuring; UK sort-code accounts primary
Time to launch ~15 days (virtual cards day 1, physical cards day 15) 6 to 12 weeks typical
Self-service portal Yes — programme configuration without engineering tickets Partial; configuration typically requires account-manager involvement
Apple Pay / Google Pay Provisioned within 24 hours of card issuance Supported; provisioning timeline varies by programme
Pricing model Transparent per-card and transaction-based; no opaque setup minimums Volume-based; commercial terms renegotiated post-restructuring
Platform stability Continuous operation since 2012; no restructuring events Underwent significant restructuring and new ownership 2023 to 2024
02
Where Codego is the stronger choice

Where Codego is the stronger choice

Launch in 15 days, not 15 weeks

Speed-to-market is often the single variable that determines whether a product opportunity is captured or lost. Codego's Banking-as-a-Service infrastructure is architected to put virtual cards live on day one and physical cards into cardholders' hands by day fifteen. That is not a best-case estimate — it is the standard process. Railsr's onboarding, historically structured around longer compliance review cycles and integration sprints, has averaged six to twelve weeks. For fintechs working to tight investor milestones or seasonal launch windows, that delta is material.

Native EU IBAN issuance and SEPA Instant

Codego issues IBANs natively across six EU member states, with full support for SEPA credit transfers, SEPA Instant, and SWIFT wires — all from a single integration. This matters enormously for any programme targeting European consumers or businesses that expect payments to settle in seconds rather than hours. Railsr's EU account infrastructure has contracted following its 2023 restructuring, with UK sort-code accounts remaining its primary offering. Programmes that need a genuine pan-European IBAN issuance layer will find Codego's coverage considerably broader today.

First-class crypto and stablecoin card programmes

Codego's white-label crypto card capability is a native product, not a bolt-on. Cardholders can fund spending from crypto or stablecoin balances with on-the-fly conversion at point of sale, creating a seamless bridge between digital assets and everyday payments rails. Railsr does not position crypto-funded cards as a core product line. For wallets, exchanges, or treasury platforms seeking to give their users a card that spends crypto balances at any Visa or Mastercard terminal globally, Codego is the more direct path — with a card issuing stack already calibrated for this use case.

Platform continuity and regulatory stability

Codego has operated continuously since 2012 without financial restructuring, ownership changes, or licence disruptions. Railsr underwent a significant restructuring process in 2023 and 2024, resulting in new ownership and a materially reduced regulatory footprint in the EU. For compliance teams assessing counterparty risk, platform continuity is not a minor consideration — it affects contract enforceability, data custody, and the risk of a forced migration. Codego's core banking layer provides a stable foundation precisely because it has not needed to be rebuilt under distress conditions.

Dual-scheme BIN sponsorship on a single contract

Codego holds BIN sponsorship relationships with both Visa and Mastercard, accessible under a single commercial agreement. This gives programme managers genuine flexibility: they can run parallel schemes, A/B test acceptance rates by geography, or migrate between schemes without renegotiating their platform contract. Railsr also accesses both schemes, but the scheme relationships available to clients have been subject to renegotiation as part of the wider post-restructuring commercial reset. Codego's scheme access is fully current and unaffected by any such process.

Self-service programme configuration

Codego's operator portal allows programme managers to configure spending controls, card designs, velocity limits, and fee structures without raising engineering or account-management tickets. This is a meaningful operational advantage at scale: changes that might take days through a managed-service model can be applied in minutes. The same portal underpins expense card programmes, gift card schemes, and white-label bank deployments alike, providing a consistent interface regardless of programme type. Railsr's configuration has historically required more account-manager involvement for non-standard parameter changes.

03
Where Railsr is the stronger choice

Where Railsr is the stronger choice

Honesty matters. There are scenarios where Railsr is the better answer, and buyers should weigh them carefully before making a platform decision.

UK-domiciled programmes with FCA-first requirements

Railsr holds a UK FCA EMI licence and has deep experience structuring programmes under FCA Consumer Duty and the UK's specific safeguarding rules. For fintechs whose primary market is the United Kingdom and whose investors or legal counsel specifically require an FCA-regulated infrastructure partner, Railsr's regulatory posture may be a better fit than a Malta-domiciled, EU-passported provider. Codego's pan-EU licencing is optimal for European programmes but does not replicate FCA-regulated status for UK-first deployments.

Established enterprise relationships and integrations

Railsr built a significant client base between 2016 and 2022, and a number of its enterprise integrations, particularly within UK retail and loyalty sectors, reflect years of bespoke configuration. Buyers already embedded in the Railsr ecosystem with complex, long-running integrations may find that the switching cost to an alternative provider exceeds the benefit, particularly if the existing programme is performing adequately and the restructuring has not directly affected their specific product configuration.

Loyalty and rewards programme heritage

Railsr, in its earlier Railsbank incarnation, built specific product capability around loyalty points, rewards currencies, and branded spend incentives. Some of that institutional knowledge and pre-built connectivity to loyalty ecosystems remains within the platform. Programmes whose primary differentiator is a rewards or cashback mechanic, rather than payments infrastructure per se, may find Railsr's tooling in this area more developed than Codego's current off-the-shelf offering, though Codego's white-label card programmes can be configured to support rewards flows via API.

04
Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Q1.How does Codego achieve a 15-day launch timeline when most BaaS providers quote 6 to 12 weeks?
Codego's infrastructure is pre-certified on both Visa and Mastercard with live BIN ranges already allocated. Compliance onboarding runs in parallel with technical integration rather than sequentially, and the self-service portal eliminates the configuration queue that extends timelines at many managed-service providers. Virtual card programmes can go live on day one; physical card programmes, including embossing, personalisation, and fulfilment, complete by day fifteen under standard conditions. Scope and regulatory complexity in specific markets can affect this, and the Codego team will confirm realistic timelines during an initial scoping conversation.
Q2.Is it risky to build on a platform that has recently undergone restructuring, such as Railsr?
Platform restructuring introduces several categories of risk that compliance and procurement teams should assess: continuity of regulatory licences, stability of scheme agreements, enforceability of existing SLAs under new ownership, and the risk of a second distress event. None of these risks are necessarily disqualifying, particularly if the restructured entity has secured solid new ownership and operational backing. However, they are legitimate due-diligence questions. Codego has operated without restructuring since 2012, which removes this category of counterparty risk from the evaluation.
Q3.Can Codego support both EU and UK cardholders on a single programme?
Yes. Codego's card programmes can be structured to serve cardholders across multiple jurisdictions within its licenced footprint. EU cardholders are served through Codego's NBB e-money distribution licence and pan-EU passporting. UK cardholder coverage depends on programme structure and is addressed during the scoping process. Codego's card issuing infrastructure is designed for multi-geography deployments, and scheme acceptance is global — cards issued by Codego work wherever Visa or Mastercard are accepted, regardless of where the cardholder is located.
Q4.Does Codego support Apple Pay and Google Pay, and how quickly are they provisioned?
Both Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported and provisioned within 24 hours of card issuance. This applies to both consumer and corporate card programmes. Tokenisation is handled within Codego's card processing infrastructure, and programme operators do not need to manage separate tokenisation agreements with Apple or Google. The 24-hour provisioning window applies under standard conditions; volumes and jurisdiction do not typically affect this timeline materially.
Q5.What payment rails does Codego support beyond card transactions?
Codego supports SEPA credit transfers, SEPA Instant payments, and SWIFT international wires, in addition to card rails on Visa and Mastercard. IBANs are issued natively in six EU countries, meaning funds held in Codego-powered accounts can send and receive payments directly on these rails without routing through a third-party correspondent. This is particularly relevant for white-label bank programmes and business account products where customers expect full payment functionality, not just card spending.
Q6.How does Codego's crypto card offering work, and which assets are supported?
Codego's white-label crypto card programmes allow cardholders to fund spending directly from crypto or stablecoin balances. At point of sale, the relevant asset is converted to fiat on the fly and settled on the card scheme rails in the local currency. Supported assets and stablecoins are confirmed during programme design, as the list evolves with market conditions and compliance requirements. The conversion and settlement layer is native to Codego's infrastructure — operators do not need to build or source a separate FX or conversion engine to power this product.
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