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 Wirex.
An honest comparison
of crypto card programmes and white-label banking infrastructure.

Wirex built its reputation on a direct-to-consumer crypto Visa card and has since offered a white-label variant through Wirex Business. Codego approaches the same space from the other direction: pure infrastructure for fintechs, banks and programme managers who need to own their licence relationship, their BIN and their brand. Where Wirex typically requires 8 to 12 weeks to launch a white-label programme, 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 Wirex
Headquarters Malta (EU) London, UK
Founded 2012 2014
Regulatory framework NBB EMI distribution licence; Codego Europe SIA in EMI process; pan-EU passporting FCA-registered in UK; EU operations via partner banks; partner carries risk under Wirex licence
Card schemes Visa and Mastercard, both with BIN sponsorship Visa primarily
White-label crypto cards First-class: stablecoin and crypto-funded with on-the-fly conversion Available via Wirex Business; more limited than consumer product
EU IBAN issuance Native in 6 countries; SEPA, SEPA Instant, SWIFT Indirect via partner banks; not natively issued
Time to launch Virtual cards day 1; physical cards by day 15 8 to 12 weeks for white-label programme
Licence ownership Partner operates under own or Codego infrastructure; BIN sponsor relationship direct Consumer and white-label programmes operate under Wirex licence
Self-service portal Yes — full programme configuration Limited; primarily managed-service model
Apple Pay / Google Pay Provisioned within 24 hours Available on consumer product; white-label timeline varies
Pricing model Transparent B2B infrastructure pricing; no consumer revenue share required Revenue share and fee structures tied to Wirex consumer programme economics
02
Where Codego is the stronger choice

Where Codego is the stronger choice

You own the licence relationship and the BIN

With Wirex Business, your programme ultimately sits under Wirex's own regulatory umbrella — meaning Wirex carries the compliance risk and, in practice, retains material control over programme rules. Codego's Banking-as-a-Service model is structured differently: partners engage directly with the BIN sponsor relationship. If you are building a regulated fintech or a neobank and intend to seek your own EMI licence over time, Codego's architecture keeps that path open. Wirex's model closes it. For anyone serious about white-label banking with long-term regulatory autonomy, the distinction is material.

Dual-scheme access — 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. Wirex operates primarily on Visa. Locking your programme to a single scheme before you know your end customers' preferences or your issuing geography's acceptance landscape is a constraint that compounds over time. Codego's card issuing infrastructure lets you run parallel programmes or switch scheme per market without renegotiating your foundational partnership.

Native EU IBAN issuance across six countries

Wirex routes EU IBAN functionality through partner banks rather than issuing natively. That introduces a dependency layer — settlement times, IBAN format consistency and SEPA Instant eligibility all become contingent on a third party's infrastructure rather than your own. Codego issues IBANs natively in six EU countries with full SEPA Instant, standard SEPA and SWIFT connectivity built in. For any programme that needs to hold client funds, receive payroll credits or enable peer-to-peer transfers, native IBAN issuance is the architecture that scales.

15-day time to launch against an 8 to 12-week competitor window

Wirex Business quotes 8 to 12 weeks for a white-label programme launch. Codego's onboarding structure delivers virtual card issuance on day one and physical cards by day 15. That gap is not cosmetic — it is three to four months of revenue, user acquisition and iteration cycles. Codego's self-service portal allows programme managers to configure limits, fee schedules, velocity rules and card art without raising a support ticket. For fintechs moving at commercial speed, the operational autonomy that Codego's core banking layer provides is a meaningful competitive input.

First-class crypto and stablecoin card infrastructure

Wirex's crypto capability is strongest on its consumer product, where 150+ assets are supported. The white-label variant inherits a narrower feature set. Codego treats white-label crypto cards as a first-class infrastructure product: stablecoin and crypto-funded programmes run with on-the-fly conversion at point of sale, meaning the cardholder spends in fiat while the programme settles from a crypto balance. Apple Pay and Google Pay provisioning completes within 24 hours of card issuance, keeping the mobile wallet experience consistent with premium consumer fintech expectations.

Broader programme types on a single infrastructure layer

Codego's platform supports expense cards, gift cards, POS terminals and white-label prepaid cards from a single card processing infrastructure. Wirex's white-label offering is primarily oriented around the crypto card use case it knows from its consumer product. If your programme roadmap includes multiple card types — corporate expense, consumer prepaid, rewards and gift — consolidating onto Codego's platform avoids the integration overhead of assembling those capabilities from separate vendors, each with their own SLA, reconciliation format and KYC pipeline.

03
Where Wirex is the stronger choice

Where Wirex is the stronger choice

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

Consumer-facing crypto wallets with a large existing network

Wirex's consumer product carries genuine brand recognition in the retail crypto space, particularly in the UK and parts of APAC. If your proposition is a consumer app that benefits from co-marketing with or distribution through an existing crypto card audience, Wirex's established user base and consumer-grade UX is a real asset. Codego does not operate a consumer-facing brand and does not offer co-marketing reach into a retail audience. For B2C crypto wallet programmes where distribution matters as much as infrastructure, Wirex's consumer heritage is a legitimate advantage.

UK-market crypto card programmes under FCA registration

Wirex holds FCA registration in the UK and has operated crypto card programmes in that jurisdiction since 2014. Its domestic regulatory familiarity and established Visa relationship in the UK market are well-tested. If your primary market is UK retail and your product closely mirrors Wirex's existing consumer programme, adapting Wirex Business may involve less bespoke regulatory navigation than building from a Malta-based EMI infrastructure. Codego's pan-EU passporting is strong, but the UK sits outside that framework post-2020.

150+ crypto asset support at the consumer layer

Wirex's consumer product supports over 150 cryptocurrencies with in-app swaps and exchange functionality. For a programme that genuinely requires breadth of supported assets — rather than stablecoin and major crypto coverage — Wirex's consumer-side infrastructure is more extensive today. Codego's crypto card offering covers the assets that account for the overwhelming majority of card spend conversion, but it does not match Wirex's long-tail asset list. Niche token programmes or multi-asset DeFi wallet products may find Wirex's asset catalogue more immediately useful.

04
Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Q1.Can I migrate an existing Wirex Business programme to Codego?
Yes, migration is technically feasible. The primary workstreams are BIN migration — which requires advance notice to Visa or Mastercard and a card reissue cycle — and porting your user KYC data under GDPR-compliant data transfer agreements. Codego's onboarding team has handled programme migrations before and can scope the timeline during initial discovery. Virtual card reissuance can typically complete within the standard 15-day launch window; physical card reissue follows the replacement cycle you define.
Q2.Does Codego require me to hold my own EMI licence to launch a programme?
No. Codego's BaaS model is specifically designed to allow fintechs and programme managers to launch under Codego's regulatory infrastructure while they build towards their own licence if desired. The NBB electronic-money distribution licence and the in-progress Codego Europe SIA EMI authorisation cover partner programmes operating under that umbrella. If you already hold an EMI licence, Codego can also serve as pure technical infrastructure beneath your own regulatory entity.
Q3.How does Codego handle crypto-to-fiat conversion at point of sale?
Codego's crypto card infrastructure performs on-the-fly conversion at the moment of authorisation. When a cardholder makes a purchase, the system converts the required fiat amount from the designated crypto or stablecoin balance in real time, settling the transaction in the scheme's fiat settlement currency. The cardholder's POS experience is identical to any standard card transaction. Conversion rates, spread parameters and supported asset pairs are configurable at programme level via the self-service portal.
Q4.What is BIN sponsorship and why does it matter for a white-label programme?
A BIN sponsor is the licensed principal member of Visa or Mastercard that grants a programme manager access to the scheme's network under a dedicated Bank Identification Number. The BIN determines which institution's name appears on authorisation messages and how chargebacks are routed. Controlling your BIN relationship — rather than being a sub-programme under a consumer brand's BIN — gives you scheme rule compliance independence, direct dispute resolution standing and the ability to negotiate interchange tiers as your volume grows.
Q5.Is SEPA Instant available across all of Codego's IBAN issuance countries?
SEPA Instant availability depends on the specific IBAN issuance country and the receiving institution's participation in the RT1 or TIPS infrastructure. Codego's native IBAN issuance covers six EU countries with SEPA Instant connectivity built into the core platform. Not every counterparty bank in Europe is yet a SEPA Instant participant, but outbound Instant payments from Codego-issued IBANs are supported where the beneficiary bank accepts them. Your account manager can confirm per-country status during onboarding. See the SEPA Instant glossary entry for scheme-level detail.
Q6.Can I issue both corporate expense cards and consumer prepaid cards from the same Codego programme?
Yes. Codego's platform supports multiple card product types — including expense cards, consumer prepaid and gift cards — under a single programme infrastructure. You can configure separate card products with distinct velocity rules, fee schedules, spending category restrictions and card art within the same self-service portal instance. This is particularly useful for fintechs that serve both business and retail customer segments and want to avoid maintaining two separate issuer relationships and reconciliation pipelines.