Card issuing with Pismo

In the card system, Pismo acts as a processor for card issuers. The Pismo platform holds the ledger for card transactions and enables transaction processing.

Card authorization and transaction participants include:

• Cardholder – Person authorized to use a card.
• Merchant – Store or vendor authorized to receive card payments from its customers pursuant to an agreement with card brands.
• Network – Company that processes card payments worldwide such as Visa and Mastercard. Networks are also called card schemes.
• Issuer – Financial institution that issued the card used in a transaction. Issuers are usually banks, but they can be other types of financial entities, such as fintechs.
• Acquirer – Financial institution that receives the payment authorization request from the merchant. Acquirers are usually banks, but they can be other types of financial entities, such as fintechs. For simplicity, the acquirer is sometimes referred to as the merchant's bank, although it doesn't have to be a bank.
• Third party processors – Companies that help banks and other organizations to set themselves up as card issuers. They often handle much of the processing that would otherwise fall on the shoulders of their clients. Pismo falls into this category.

Different financial institutions offer different sets of services. A financial institution can be both an issuer and an acquirer, but that's not always the case. For example, most banks need to handle credit card transactions, but many do not issue credit cards.

A few examples of issuers and/or acquirers in Brazil are:

• Itaú
• N26

Before launching your card issuing program, you must coordinate with Pismo to orchestrate multiple ongoing payment services and activities.

Card networks Pismo supports

• Visa
• Mastercard
• ELO - Brazilian network with international reach through association with Discover
• RuPay - Indian payments and financing

Getting started

• Review the Card issuing basics and Integration requirements and setup.
• Begin getting card network certified.
• Choose the Card network integration model you want to implement.