Stripe Issuing vs Mastercard
Different commercial models: Stripe Issuing prices per-transaction, Mastercard interchange-share — real cost depends on your volumes. On compliance Stripe Issuing documents more certifications (2 vs 0). For a serious B2B comparison request custom pricing from both: public terms are only the starting point.
| Stripe Issuing | Mastercard | |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | S | S |
| Rating | ★ 5.0 | ★ 4.8 |
| Service type | Card issuing / BaaS | Card issuing / BaaS |
| Pricing model | Per transaction | Interchange share |
| Spread | 20 bps | — |
| Per-card fee | $0.10 virtual · $3.50 physical | — |
| Card networks | Visa, Mastercard | Mastercard |
| Card types | virtual, physical, debit, credit, prepaid | debit, credit, prepaid, virtual, physical |
| Settlement time | T+1 | — |
| Fiat rails | ACH, SEPA, Wire | — |
| Stablecoins | USDC | — |
| Customer type | Fintech, Developers, Platforms | Enterprise, Fintech, Platforms |
| Certifications | SOC2-T2, PCI-DSS-L1 | — |
| SDK | Node, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Java, .NET | — |
| Processed volume | $1.4T | $10.6T |
| Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP | — |
| Fund custody | Self-custody (funds in your control) | Self-custody (funds in your control) |
| KYC | Full | — |
| Supported countries | US, EEA, UK, APAC · 22+ countries | US, EEA, UK, APAC, LATAM, MENA, AFRICA · 210+ countries |
| Regulator | FCA | — |
| Segment | B2B | B2B |
| OAM Italy registration | — | No |
| Regions | US, EU/EEA, UK, APAC | US, EU/EEA, UK, APAC, LATAM, MENA, Africa |
| Licences & safety |
Frequently asked questions
Stripe Issuing vs Mastercard: which is better?
Different commercial models: Stripe Issuing prices per-transaction, Mastercard interchange-share — real cost depends on your volumes. On compliance Stripe Issuing documents more certifications (2 vs 0). For a serious B2B comparison request custom pricing from both: public terms are only the starting point.
Is Stripe Issuing custodial or self-custody?
Stripe Issuing is self-custody: you keep the keys, while Mastercard is self-custody.