Cards Remain Lithic's Core Rail
Bo Jiang, CEO of Lithic, on the power of the cards as a digital payment rail
Lithic is signaling that its economic engine and product identity are still cards, not bank transfer APIs. Cards are where Lithic can differentiate with programmable controls, instant authorization, network settlement data, and interchange linked revenue. ACH matters because many B2B payments still require it, but inside Lithic it mainly fills workflow gaps, so customers can reconcile card and bank payments in one system instead of buying a separate ACH stack.
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The practical use case is a company like Order.co. It issues hundreds of thousands of Lithic virtual cards, uses card webhooks and spend controls as the core workflow, and sees ACH as important mainly for vendors that refuse card fees on larger ticket payments. That makes ACH a coverage feature around a card led product, not the main product.
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This fits Lithic’s broader position in fintech infrastructure. Lithic grew up as a focused issuer processor, while modular BaaS stacks often paired separate providers for KYC, lending, and ACH. Keeping ACH modular lets Lithic stay strong where it has real edge, card issuance and reconciliation, while still letting customers plug in another ACH vendor if needed.
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The strategic reason is monetization and user behavior. Card infrastructure carries richer controls and economics through interchange splits, while pay by bank and faster bank rails mostly solve merchant cost, not end user demand. Even inside B2B, software buyers usually care more about approval flows, certainty, and clean bookkeeping than the rail itself.
Going forward, the likely winners in embedded payments will package multiple rails behind one workflow, but cards will remain the wedge that earns distribution and margin. ACH, RTP, and FedNow will expand coverage for bill pay, payouts, and large ticket vendor payments, while the control layer, reconciliation layer, and monetization layer stay anchored to card infrastructure.