Embedding cards as product and revenue
Bo Jiang, co-founder and CEO of Lithic, on the key primitives in card issuing
Embedding cards into software turns payments from a back office step into a product and revenue engine. A vertical software company can create a card at the moment money needs to move, set merchant or amount limits, and settle faster than check or ACH workflows. That makes cards useful not just for neobanks, but for procurement, insurance claims, travel payouts, and other business software where payment speed, control, and reconciliation directly shape the user experience and the software company can share in interchange.
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Lithic sits in the issuer processor layer, closer to Marqeta than to FIS or Fiserv. The job is to let developers generate and control virtual or physical cards by API. The tradeoff is that direct issuer processors offer more control and speed for card specific use cases, while all in one platforms bundle bank partners, KYC, ledgering, and compliance for customers that want less assembly work.
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The real business model shift is that software companies can monetize money movement instead of charging only seat based SaaS fees. In typical card economics, the merchant pays interchange, then the network, bank, platform, and software company split that pool. That is why cards can be an add on feature and still become a meaningful revenue stream, especially in B2B where interchange rates are higher.
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This market moved from enterprise fintech programs to embedded use cases inside existing software. Marqeta proved the model with large programs like Cash App and Klarna, while newer players like Lithic went after the long tail of developers and vertical SaaS. More recent demand has shifted toward larger brands and vertical software companies that already own workflow and distribution, then add cards as a layer on top.
Going forward, the winners are likely to be the platforms that make cards feel invisible inside a workflow while still giving operators tight control over spend, data, and compliance. That pushes the market toward a split structure, with broad platforms handling enterprise grade orchestration and specialist issuers like Lithic winning where programmable cards are the core primitive that makes the software better.