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 Stripe Issuing.
An honest comparison
of card issuing and banking infrastructure.

Stripe Issuing is a compelling card programme layer for businesses already embedded in the Stripe ecosystem, offering polished developer tooling and rapid API integration. Codego is a dedicated European banking infrastructure provider with native EU IBAN issuance, dual Visa and Mastercard BIN sponsorship, and first-class crypto card support built in from day one. Where Stripe Issuing typically requires 4 to 8 weeks to reach production, Codego delivers virtual cards on day one and physical cards within 15 days.

Talk to Codego Comparison table
01
At a glance

At a glance

  Codego Stripe Issuing
Headquarters Malta, EU San Francisco, US (EU entity: Dublin, Ireland)
Founded 2012 Stripe 2010; Issuing product launched 2018
Regulatory framework NBB e-money distribution licence; Codego Europe SIA in EMI process; pan-EU passporting Stripe Payments Europe Ltd (Central Bank of Ireland); programme manager model
Card schemes Visa and Mastercard — full BIN sponsorship on both Visa-first; Mastercard support more limited and market-dependent
White-label crypto cards Native — stablecoin and crypto-funded, on-the-fly conversion Not supported
EU IBAN issuance Native issuance in 6 EU countries; SEPA, SEPA Instant, SWIFT No native EU IBAN — Stripe Treasury is US-only; EU requires third-party partners
Time to launch Virtual cards day 1; physical cards day 15 Typically 4 to 8 weeks to production
Self-service portal Yes — programme configuration via portal Dashboard available; deeper configuration requires API / Stripe support
Apple Pay / Google Pay Provisioned within 24 hours Supported; provisioning timeline varies by programme setup
Pricing model Transparent; available on request Custom pricing tied to overall Stripe contract volume
02
Where Codego is the stronger choice

Where Codego is the stronger choice

15-day end-to-end launch for card programmes

Speed to market is often the single most commercially sensitive variable in a card programme. Codego's card issuing infrastructure is purpose-built to collapse that timeline: virtual cards are live on day one, and physical cards follow within 15 days. Stripe Issuing typically requires between 4 and 8 weeks to reach a production-grade programme — a meaningful gap for fintechs, neobanks or corporate spend platforms where every week of delay has a measurable revenue cost. Codego's self-service portal allows programme managers to configure spend controls, limits and card art without waiting on bespoke engineering cycles.

Native EU IBAN issuance with SEPA Instant

Stripe Treasury — Stripe's account and IBAN-adjacent product — is currently US-only. European clients needing IBAN issuance must rely on Stripe's third-party banking partners, introducing additional contracts, latency and compliance overhead. Codego issues native EU IBANs directly across 6 EU countries, with full SEPA Instant, standard SEPA and SWIFT rails available out of the box. For any product that requires an embedded current account alongside a card — expense management, payroll, treasury, B2B payments — Codego's core banking layer is a meaningfully more complete solution.

Dual BIN sponsorship on both Visa and Mastercard

Codego holds BIN sponsorship on both Visa and Mastercard, giving programme managers genuine scheme optionality. This matters for white-label clients whose end-users span geographies where one scheme has stronger acceptance, or for issuers who wish to diversify scheme dependency for resilience and commercial negotiation. Stripe Issuing operates primarily under Visa, with Mastercard support more limited and variable by market. Scheme flexibility is frequently underestimated at the design stage and expensive to retrofit later — Codego resolves this from the outset.

First-class crypto and stablecoin card support

Stripe Issuing has no native crypto card capability. Codego's white-label crypto card infrastructure is a core product line, not an afterthought: card programmes can be funded by stablecoins or crypto assets with on-the-fly conversion at point of sale, enabling crypto-native fintechs, Web3 wallets and digital asset platforms to issue spendable cards without bridging to a separate provider. For businesses in the digital asset space, this eliminates an entire integration layer, a separate compliance relationship and the conversion spread inefficiency that typically arises when crypto and card issuing are handled by different vendors.

White-label banking as a complete infrastructure stack

Codego's proposition extends well beyond card issuing. The Banking-as-a-Service platform encompasses white-label bank infrastructure, white-label card programmes, card processing, expense cards, gift cards and POS terminal connectivity under one regulatory and contractual umbrella. Stripe Issuing is specifically a card programme layer within the broader Stripe payments platform — clients needing a full embedded banking stack will find themselves assembling multiple Stripe products or engaging additional partners, increasing vendor management complexity and contract surface area.

Apple Pay and Google Pay within 24 hours

Consumer and business card programmes increasingly live or die on mobile wallet readiness — a card that cannot be added to Apple Pay on day one faces immediate abandonment risk. Codego provisions Apple Pay and Google Pay within 24 hours of card issuance. This is enabled by Codego's direct scheme and token service provider integrations, with no manual intervention or queued approval process on the client side. For white-label card issuers launching consumer-facing products, this provisioning speed is a material differentiator in activation and early spend rates.

03
Where Stripe Issuing is the stronger choice

Where Stripe Issuing is the stronger choice

Honesty matters. There are scenarios where Stripe Issuing is the better answer.

Deep integration with the Stripe payments ecosystem

If your business already processes payments through Stripe, uses Stripe Connect for marketplace payouts, or relies on Stripe Radar for fraud decisioning, then Stripe Issuing integrates into that stack with near-zero additional plumbing. The same API keys, the same dashboard, the same webhook infrastructure. For product teams that want card issuing as one module inside a broader Stripe-native architecture — rather than a standalone programme — the consolidated developer experience is genuinely difficult to replicate.

Developer experience and documentation depth

Stripe has invested heavily in developer experience over more than a decade, and Stripe Issuing inherits that legacy. The API documentation, sandbox environment, interactive examples and community support are among the most comprehensive in the payments industry. Engineering teams with limited fintech domain expertise will find Stripe Issuing easier to prototype against quickly. For early-stage startups validating a card product with a small technical team, the reduced onboarding friction relative to a full BaaS integration can be commercially relevant.

US market card issuing

Codego's infrastructure is Europe-focused. For businesses whose primary issuing market is the United States — whether for corporate spend, earned wage access, or consumer programmes — Stripe Issuing has a longer operational track record, established US banking partnerships and a mature US compliance posture. Stripe Treasury also provides US-based financial account functionality. If the priority market is North America with Europe as a secondary consideration, Stripe's US-first architecture is a practical advantage.

04
Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Q1.Can Codego issue cards under both Visa and Mastercard for the same programme?
Yes. Codego holds BIN sponsorship on both Visa and Mastercard, which means a single programme can be structured to issue under either or both schemes depending on the target market and commercial requirements. This is particularly valuable for white-label clients with multi-geography deployments. Stripe Issuing operates primarily under Visa, with Mastercard availability more limited and subject to market-specific constraints.
Q2.Does Codego support crypto-funded cards natively?
Yes. Codego's white-label crypto card product supports stablecoin and crypto-funded card programmes with on-the-fly conversion at point of sale. This means cardholders can fund their card balance in a digital asset and spend at any Visa or Mastercard merchant without a separate conversion step. Stripe Issuing does not offer native crypto card support; businesses requiring this capability would need to integrate a third-party crypto processing layer independently.
Q3.What does "time to launch in 15 days" actually include?
Codego's 15-day timeline covers the end-to-end programme setup: virtual cards can be issued on day one following onboarding completion, with physical card production and delivery reaching cardholders by day 15. This includes BIN configuration, card programme parameters, spend controls, Apple Pay and Google Pay provisioning, and access to the self-service portal. Full timeline is subject to client KYB documentation being in order. See card issuing for a detailed breakdown of the onboarding process.
Q4.Does Codego provide EU IBANs as part of the card programme?
Yes. Codego issues native EU IBANs across 6 EU countries, with SEPA, SEPA Instant and SWIFT payment rails available. This allows clients to build embedded banking products that combine a card with a full payment account — covering inbound salary payments, B2B transfers and outbound spending in one integrated product. Stripe does not offer native EU IBAN issuance; Stripe Treasury is US-only, and EU account functionality requires engagement with Stripe's banking partners separately.
Q5.What is the difference between Codego's BaaS offering and Stripe Issuing?
Stripe Issuing is a card programme API layer designed to sit inside the Stripe ecosystem. Codego's Banking-as-a-Service platform is a full-stack banking infrastructure: it includes card issuing, core banking, EU IBAN issuance, SEPA and SWIFT rails, crypto card support, expense management and white-label bank infrastructure under one regulatory umbrella. Businesses needing only a card programme within an existing Stripe stack may find Stripe Issuing sufficient; those building a standalone embedded finance product will typically find Codego's stack more complete.
Q6.Is Codego regulated in the EU, and how does that compare to Stripe's EU regulatory position?
Codego operates under an NBB electronic-money distribution licence, with Codego Europe SIA currently in the EMI authorisation process and pan-EU passporting in place. Stripe's EU regulated entity is Stripe Payments Europe Ltd, authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland. Both operate as regulated payment institutions within the EU. Codego's infrastructure is EU-native and built specifically for European card and banking programmes, whereas Stripe's EU presence extends a US-originated platform. For a fuller explanation of relevant terms, see the BaaS glossary.