Celtic moves into card issuance

Credit card issuance matters because it turns Celtic from a pure lender into a fuller fintech infrastructure bank with more ways to get paid from the same partner. Lending pays when a loan is originated or held. Card sponsorship pays every time a customer swipes. By issuing cards for Perpay and Fasten Rewards, Celtic adds recurring fee income and becomes more comparable to banks like Cross River that bundle lending with cards and payments.1 2 3 4

• In this stack, the fintech owns the app and customer, while the sponsor bank issues the card and handles compliance. The merchant pays interchange on each purchase, then the fee is split across the bank, network, processor, and fintech. That gives Celtic a transaction based revenue stream that does not depend on keeping loans on balance sheet.2 3
• Celtic has historically been strongest in embedded lending, including Stripe Capital, Affirm, and SBA programs. Cross River shows the next step, with APIs spanning loans, accounts, cards, and payments, plus card programs where the bank keeps a share of interchange. Moving into credit cards narrows that product gap.1 4
• The competitive shift is practical, not cosmetic. Fintechs increasingly want fewer vendors, faster launches, and one bank partner that can support cards and credit together. Existing BaaS research also shows banks like Celtic have long been part of this sponsor bank set, but card issuance raises their relevance in embedded finance beyond loan origination alone.2 3 4

The next step is deeper bundling. A lender that can also issue cards can help a fintech launch a broader product suite, capture more transaction volume, and stay embedded longer as that partner grows. That pushes Celtic toward higher value relationships and closer competition with full stack BaaS banks rather than specialty loan sponsors.2 3 4