What Mica does

Mica is a payment infrastructure company headquartered in Austin, Texas (with additional operations in Washington D.C.), building credential-less payment technology on its patented Universally Unique Ephemeral Key (UUEK) system. Founded in 2020, the company addresses what it characterizes as a structural flaw in tokenization — that reusable credentials, even when tokenized, remain a target for fraud ($14.3B in annual U.S. card fraud cited in its content). Mica's UUEK generates single-use, statistically unduplicable keys that are eliminated after each transaction, removing stored credentials from the commerce flow entirely and shifting fraud and dispute liability to a network-level elimination rather than mitigation model.

Mica's platform comprises three core product modules — Credential-less Tokenization, Multi-Tender Commerce (combining cards, A2A payments, loyalty currencies, stablecoin, vouchers, and coupons in a single transaction with one good-funds authorization to the merchant), and a Zero Liability Network. Supporting modules include a SKU-Level Adjudication Engine for age verification, filtered spend, OTC, and EBT transactions, digital coupon redemption with 1:1 tracking, and interactive digital receipts. The portfolio is protected by 27 issued patents and 60+ pending worldwide. Founder Christopher Petersen authored the first network tokenization solution cited by Visa and Mastercard and has built four payment processors with seven exits to firms including Google, Microsoft, and FIS.

Mica operates as a B2B infrastructure provider targeting networks, issuers, merchants, fintechs/wallets, brands/CPGs, and processors/acquirers. Its primary go-to-market is via flagship distribution partnership with UATP (announced February 2026), through which Mica's technology reaches merchants globally without disrupting existing acquiring or gateway relationships, supplemented by direct enterprise sales and 8-10 API integrations. The company has raised $20 million in total funding from Moonshots Capital, MaQro Advisors, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and FT Partners, and operates with 11-50 employees.

Name

Mica

Legal name

Mica

Website

https://mica.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Mica is a payment infrastructure company building credential-less payment technology on patented Universally Unique Ephemeral Keys, targeting networks, issuers, merchants, fintechs, and processors through its UATP distribution partnership and direct enterprise API integrations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Infrastructure

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Finance Services (6199), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Tokenization, Network Vaults & Credential Management (FSAGABAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Wallet Infrastructure (Tokenization, Wallet-as-a-Service) (FSAMAEAI), Crypto Payments & Stablecoin Settlement Platforms (BPAMAFAL)

Keywords

• Payment infrastructure
• Credential-less payments
• Multi-tender commerce
• Payment tokenization
• Fraud prevention

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Payment Network Infrastructure Services: Mica provides payment infrastructure services to networks, issuers, merchants, and fintechs. The platform enables modern commerce with a credential-less approach, supporting various use cases and channels. Revenue likely derives from transaction processing fees and licensing of patented technology.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Mica builds and sells patented credential-less payment infrastructure that eliminates stored credentials from the commerce flow using Universally Unique Ephemeral Key (UUEK) technology. The platform enables networks, issuers, merchants, processors, wallets/fintechs, and brands to process multi-tender transactions (cards, account-to-account payments, loyalty, stablecoins, vouchers) in a single authorization, delivered via APIs and through UATP's global payment network.

Product overview

Mica is a payment network infrastructure platform comprising three core product modules: Credential-less Tokenization (using patented Universally Unique Ephemeral Keys to eliminate stored credentials and prevent fraud), Multi-Tender Commerce (enabling any payment type including cards, account-to-account, loyalty, crypto, and stablecoins in a single transaction), and the Zero Liability Network (network-level infrastructure eliminating fraud and dispute liability by design). The platform is extensible via APIs and supports online, in-app, P2P, and in-store use cases. Supporting capabilities include SKU-level adjudication for age verification and filtered transactions, digital coupon redemption, and interactive digital receipts embedded in issuer apps. Mica has 27 issued patents and 60+ pending worldwide. The platform integrates with UATP's global payment infrastructure to deliver multi-tender and credential-less capabilities to merchants without disrupting existing acquiring or gateway relationships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Credential-less Tokenization Patented credential-less tokenization technology that uses N-Character PINs (user-specific, not account-specific) to generate ephemeral single-use Universally Unique Ephemeral Keys (UUEKs). Eliminates stored credentials entirely, removing a primary target for fraud and account takeover attacks. Sold to networks, issuers, merchants, processors, wallets, and fintechs.
• Multi-Tender Commerce Payment orchestration capability that enables any form of value—debit, credit, loyalty, crypto, closed loop, stablecoins, vouchers, coupons, and stored-value instruments—in a single transaction on a single network. Includes intelligent routing and rule-based allocation so merchants can decide how to split basket totals across tenders. Targets networks, issuers, merchants, and fintechs.
• Zero Liability Network Network-level payment infrastructure that structurally eliminates fraud and dispute liability because no stored credentials exist to steal. Provides zero network liability positioning for issuers, banks, and merchants deploying Mica-powered transactions.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% checkout success rate for consumers
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• UATPflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 February 2026Partnership to launch credential-less multi-tender payment capabilities for merchants. Powered by Mica's patented technology and delivered through UATP's global payment platform. Enables merchants to intelligently allocate a single booking across multiple payment types (cards, account-to-account payments, vouchers, coupons, loyalty currencies, stablecoin) in one transaction while keeping settlement and reconciliation streamlined. Expands UATP's Ceptor capabilities to all channels including in-store, in-airport and in-flight purchases.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Visa Token Service: Visa's network tokenization platform (VTS) is the dominant incumbent in token-based payment security, securing billions of card credentials globally. It is the most direct architectural alternative to Mica's credential-less approach and the primary standard Mica is positioning against.
• Mastercard MDES: Mastercard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) is the other dominant network tokenization standard, deployed across issuers, acquirers, and merchants worldwide. It represents the same architectural philosophy Mica claims to obsolete with its credential-less model.
• Stripe: Global payments infrastructure platform offering APIs for payment acceptance, issuing, and financial products. While broader in scope, Stripe competes for the same modern developer-first payment infrastructure wallet that Mica targets with networks, issuers, and fintechs.
• Adyen: Public unified payments platform serving large enterprise merchants and platforms globally. Comparable to Mica in serving enterprise merchants with multi-method payment orchestration, including cards, A2A, and alternative payment methods in a single integration.
• PayPal: Global digital payments incumbent offering wallets, checkout, and merchant services. While broader in scope, PayPal competes with Mica for wallet and fintech payment infrastructure relationships and is actively modernizing its tokenization and orchestration layers.

Direct peers

• Marqeta: Public payment infrastructure company (MQ) providing API-driven card issuing and processing for fintechs and modern brands. It is a comparable modern, developer-first payment infrastructure platform serving many of the same wallet and fintech customer segments Mica targets.
• Modern Treasury: Payment infrastructure platform providing APIs for money movement, reconciliation, and bank integrations. While focused on bank and treasury workflows rather than card payments, it is a comparable modern payment infrastructure company serving fintechs with API-first orchestration.
• Dwolla: U.S.-based payment infrastructure platform focused on account-to-account (ACH) payment orchestration via APIs. Directly comparable to Mica's A2A and multi-rail orchestration capability for fintech and platform customers.

Others

• UATP: Mica's flagship distribution partner and the global payment network serving airlines and travel merchants. Not a direct competitor but a critical channel partner and the primary vehicle through which Mica's credential-less multi-tender technology reaches merchants today.

Emerging players

• Coinbase Commerce: Crypto-native merchant payment gateway supporting stablecoin and other digital asset acceptance. Comparable to Mica's multi-tender stablecoin capability at the merchant acceptance layer, though focused specifically on crypto rather than credential-less orchestration broadly.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mica