BIN sponsor
A regulated institution and Visa/Mastercard principal member that lends its Bank Identification Number (BIN) to companies without their own scheme licence, so they can issue payment cards.
Card numbers begin with a BIN that identifies the issuing institution to the scheme. Joining Visa or Mastercard as a principal member is slow and capital-intensive, so most fintechs launch under a BIN sponsor: the sponsor remains the regulated issuer of record, the fintech runs the product and brand on top.
What to check: which schemes the sponsor is a member of, where it can issue (EEA passporting vs UK-only after Brexit), settlement currencies, and whether it can issue credit (most EMI sponsors can only do prepaid/debit). The card scheme itself will almost always be American - the sovereignty question moves to data residency, the licence and the IBAN.
Primary source: Directive 2009/110/EC (E-Money Directive) · Regulation (EU) 2015/751 (Interchange Fee Regulation)
In the verified data
- 21 verified BIN sponsors are live in the catalogue: 17 issue across the EEA on their own passport, 3 are confined to the UK or Gibraltar since Brexit (Equals Money, IDT Financial Services and PSI-Pay) and 1 reaches the EEA only through a partner (Moorwand).
- Scheme reality: 21 of 21 document Mastercard membership and 17 document Visa; only Paynovate also carries a European domestic scheme - why fintech cards stay on the US schemes.
- Credit is the rare capability: 3 of 21 document true credit card products (Enfuce, IT Card and Solaris); the rest issue prepaid and debit, which is all an e-money balance can fund.
- Settlement currencies split the market: 6 sponsors settle in euro only, while 4 settle in five or more currencies (Adyen, Equals Money, Transact Payments and Wallester).
Recomputed from the catalogue and the official EBA, ESMA and FCA registers on every build — how we verify.
Questions to ask a provider
- Which schemes are you a principal member of - and can my programme move to another sponsor's BIN later without reissuing every card?
- Do you issue across the EEA on your own passport, or only in the UK - and in which settlement currencies?
- Which card products can you issue under your licence (prepaid, debit, credit), and what collateral or reserve do you require?
Browse verified providers
Related terms
IBAN sponsor · EMI licence (e-money institution) · Passporting (EEA)