How BIN sponsorship works
A BIN is the first digits of a card number, and identifies the issuer. Visa licenses 8-digit BINs to issuers, and 6-digit BINs are those licensed before 22 April 2022 (Visa Core Rules, glossary). The sponsor holds the BIN, the scheme membership and the issuing licence, and lets a programme run on them.
The company behind the programme, the programme manager, brings the product, the app and the customers. The sponsor stays the issuer: the payment service provider that contracts to provide the cardholder with the card. In the EU, issuing payment instruments is a payment service under Directive (EU) 2015/2366 (PSD2), Annex I, point 5, which is why the issuer holds an authorisation.
What the card schemes ask of a BIN sponsor
- Mastercard Rules, 1.1.4: a member needs Mastercard's approval to sponsor a programme manager, for registrations made or renewed since 20 May 2025.
- Mastercard Rules, 2.2.2: the sponsor is liable to Mastercard and to the other members for all activity of the programme managers it sponsors.
- Mastercard Rules, 3.17: a dedicated BIN or BIN range for each sponsored programme manager, in the Europe Region since 1 June 2024.
- Visa Core Rules, 10.2.2.7: a member is responsible for all card activity, whether the member or a third party agent performs it.
- Visa Core Rules, 1.9.8.6: the member registers a third party agent with Visa before the agent performs any service.
Who needs a BIN sponsor
A company that wants cards under its own brand without its own issuing licence and scheme membership: a neobank, a crypto card app, an expense card product. The other route is to become the issuer, with a licence and a scheme membership of its own.
The sponsor carries the liability, so the sponsor reviews a programme before agreeing to it and oversees it afterwards. Mastercard also asks for a dedicated BIN where a programme uses a crypto exchange to convert stored crypto into fiat currency (Mastercard Rules, 3.17).
BIN sponsor, programme manager or processor?
- Programme manager
- The company that designs and runs the card programme under the sponsor. It acts as the sponsor's agent and is not the issuer.
- Issuer processor
- The technology provider that connects the cards to the network for authorisation, clearing and settlement. A sponsor may provide the processing as well, or leave it to another company.
- Principal member
- A scheme member that holds its own BIN and answers to the scheme directly. A sponsored programme uses the sponsor's membership and is not a member.
Where BIN sponsorship shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Card issuingVirtual and physical cards, wallets and controls, on the issuer processor you choose.
- KYC / AMLIdentity checks, screening and ongoing monitoring, with the verification provider you choose.
- LedgerThe double-entry book of record behind every balance, fee and transfer.
Platforms that need it
Guides that go deeper
- BIN sponsorship: how to launch a card programmeWho does what in a sponsored card programme, what the BIN sponsor, Visa and Mastercard ask of a programme manager, the rules for crypto-linked cards, and where an EMI licence fits.
- How to build a crypto card app like RedotPayHow a stablecoin card really works: what happens between the tap and the answer, how the crypto is converted and held, what each module does, and the licences on each side.
- How to launch a business account with expense cards for SMEsThe account, the cards and the controls around them: what a business account with expense cards needs, from licensed partners and KYB to SCA and the interchange rules for commercial cards.
- How to launch a neobank without a banking licenceYour own e-money licence, an EMI's agent, a partner bank or a bank licence: how each route works, who holds the money, and what safeguarding and deposit protection cover.
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
- Mastercard Rules, 2 June 2026: Rules 1.1.4, 2.2.2 and 3.17 (Mastercard)
- Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules, 18 April 2026: 1.9.8.6, 10.2.2.7 and the glossary (Visa)
- Directive (EU) 2015/2366, PSD2, Annex I (EUR-Lex)
- Regulation (EU) 2015/751, the Interchange Fee Regulation, Article 2: the issuer (EUR-Lex)
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.