Who Thredd is
Thredd is an issuer processing platform founded in 2007 and based in London, known until April 2023 as Global Processing Services, or GPS. It processes debit, credit, prepaid and virtual card programmes, connects to Visa, Mastercard and Discover, and has teams in the UK, Singapore, Australia and the US.
It is privately held, backed by investors including Advent International, Temasek and Viking Global Investors, with Visa and Mastercard among its institutional investors. Its External Host Interface lets a programme decide authorisations on its own systems, which is why it is one of the issuer processors our card issuing module connects to.
What it does in your platform
Card issuing
Processes your cards and sends every authorisation to the module over the External Host Interface, in the mode you choose: the module deciding alone, or with Thredd standing in when it cannot answer. The approval comes from your ledger, the customer's limits and your fraud rules.
How the connection works
The card issuing module manages cards through Thredd's Cards API and runs the external host behind Thredd's External Host Interface, or EHI, which Thredd calls for every transaction.
A card is created
When a customer passes KYC, the module creates the card through the Cards API: virtual at once, physical in your design to follow.
Into the wallet
From your app, the customer adds the card to Apple Pay or Google Pay through Thredd's in-app provisioning.
Thredd calls the module
When the customer pays, Thredd sends the authorisation over EHI and waits for the answer, 800 milliseconds by default, a limit you can change.
The module decides
It checks the ledger, the limits and your rules and answers. In gateway mode with stand-in, Thredd authorises on its own if the module ever cannot answer in time.
Every event follows
Settlements, reversals and card events reach the module over EHI and webhooks, and each one is posted to the ledger.
Next to other processors
Thredd is one of several issuer processors in the card issuing module. The card screens, the controls and the ledger belong to the module, so customers see the same app whether their card runs on Thredd, Marqeta or Enfuce.
Thredd works with partner BIN sponsors and introduces you to suitable ones for your markets. Moving a programme to another processor later is a migration you plan with your sponsor and the network; your apps stay the same, and past transactions stay in your ledger.
When Thredd fits best
A strong fit when
- You want your ledger to make every decision, with a stand-in mode for the moments it cannot.
- You run debit, credit or prepaid programmes in the UK and Europe, Asia-Pacific or the Americas.
- You want Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay provisioning from day one.
Also worth a look
- A processor that is also your BIN sponsor, if you want one contract for both.
- A processor you already have a contract with: it becomes a connector too.
How we get you live
The contract
We help you get your Thredd account and contract in place, together with a BIN sponsor for your markets.
The card programme
We set up the programme with you: card products and designs, the EHI mode and timeout, stand-in rules, control groups and wallet provisioning.
The keys
API credentials and certificates go into your platform's secrets and nowhere else, and your apps never see them.
A full test run
The whole flow runs in Thredd's UAT environment, where test card transactions exercise the EHI connection end to end, before your first real card.
