What a card programme manager does
The programme manager brings the product: the brand, the app, the customers and the choice of processor and other providers. Mastercard Rule 7.7.6 describes an entity that selects and engages service providers to offer a card programme, always under the sponsorship of the BIN sponsor, and that may hold the relationship with the cardholder.
The programme manager does not issue the cards and is not a member of the card scheme. Its place in the scheme runs through the sponsor, which registers it and answers for it.
What the scheme rules say about programme managers
The Visa Core Rules have no programme manager category. A company that provides payment-related services to a Visa member is a third party agent, which the member registers with Visa before the agent performs any service (Visa Core Rules, 1.9.8.6).
Mastercard Rule 7.7.6 lists what a programme manager is responsible for, and what the issuer ensures of it:
- It presents itself as the sponsor's agent, not as the owner of the card programme.
- It stays financially sound for as long as it manages the programme.
- It does not perform acquiring services, and does not subcontract the role.
- It obtains Mastercard's approval of its management of a programme where Mastercard's standards require it.
When the role matters at launch
A card brand that starts without an issuing licence usually starts in this role. The contracts follow from it: one with a sponsor and one with a processor, or one with a provider that is both.
The role also limits what the brand says in public. A Visa member approves a third party agent's marketing materials (Visa Core Rules, 10.2.2.9), and the sponsor, not the programme manager, is the issuer of the card.
Programme manager, BIN sponsor or issuer processor?
- BIN sponsor
- The licensed issuer and scheme member on whose BIN the cards are issued. The BIN sponsor is liable to the scheme for the programme (Mastercard Rules, 2.2.2).
- Issuer processor
- Runs authorisation, clearing and settlement processing for the cards. The Mastercard Rules call it a third party processor and do not let it possess or control settlement funds (Rule 7.1).
- BIN Sponsor Partner
- In the Mastercard Rules (7.7.7), a company that finds and contracts programme managers on a sponsor's behalf. It needs Mastercard's approval, and a card programme has one at most.
- Issuer
- The payment service provider that contracts to provide the cardholder with the card (Regulation (EU) 2015/751, Article 2). Under BIN sponsorship that is the sponsor, not the programme manager.
Where a card programme manager shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Card issuingVirtual and physical cards, wallets and controls, on the issuer processor you choose.
- Fraud & riskReal-time fraud scoring, limits and case management, with the risk engines you already trust.
- BackofficeOne console to run the platform: customers, money, risk, content and staff permissions.
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.
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
- Mastercard Rules, 2 June 2026: Rules 2.2.2, 7.1, 7.7.6 and 7.7.7 (Mastercard)
- Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules, 18 April 2026: 1.9.8.6, 10.2.2.9 and the glossary (Visa)
- 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.