What Card91 does

Card91 (legally Monepeak Fintech Private Limited) is a Bengaluru-based payment infrastructure company founded in 2020 that operates an API-first Issuance Platform-as-a-Service targeting banks, NBFCs, fintechs, and other regulated financial institutions in India. The company provides modular infrastructure for issuing and processing prepaid cards, credit cards, forex cards, UPI payments (issuing and acquiring), and credit-on-UPI products, underpinned by platform components including a Switch/Processor, Access Control Server, and Mobile App/SDK. Its proprietary Blitz UPI Switch is certified by NPCI for UPI 2.0 with 99.99% uptime and 2000+ TPS capacity.

Under a separate "AI Lab" umbrella, Card91 offers VerifyIQ (verification intelligence aggregating identity, fraud, and risk signals into a single confidence score), BlitzScore (UPI-based credit scoring engine), and BlitzTrust (AI-powered merchant verification and classification). These AI-led add-ons target onboarding, underwriting, and fraud workflows at financial institutions.

Card91's business model is a B2B2B platform-as-a-service, generating revenue through subscription and recurring platform fees for API access, modular product suites, and integration services, supplemented by business/product and technology/infrastructure consulting. The company sells via direct enterprise field sales to banks and regulated entities, with channel leverage through partnerships with Visa, Mastercard, RuPay, and NPCI. The customer portfolio spans public-sector banks (Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, IOB, Central Bank of India, Punjab & Sind Bank, JK Bank, Pub Bank), private/foreign banks (SBM Bank, Yes Bank), and non-bank institutions (Thomas Cook, NSDL). Card91 has raised $13M in a 2022 pre-Series A round and disclosed $8.9M ARR in 2025, with stated expansion plans into SEA and GCC.

Name

Card91

Legal name

Monepeak Fintech Private Limited

Website

https://card91.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Card91 is a Bengaluru-based fintech founded in 2020 that provides API-first payment infrastructure (Issuance Platform-as-a-Service) to banks, NBFCs, fintechs, and insurers in India, covering card issuance, UPI switching, credit-on-UPI, and AI-powered verification and credit scoring.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Infrastructure Platform-as-a-Service

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Credit Card Issuing (522210), Credit Card Issuing (52221), Other Activities Related to Credit Intermediation (522390)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Card Issuing Platforms (Issuer Processing) (FSAGABAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Card Issuing & Program Management Platforms (BPAMAFAH), Embedded Card Issuing & Card-as-a-Service (FSAGALAC), Cards & Issuing Management (Debit/Prepaid/Credit, Program Management) (FSAGAAAE), Risk, Compliance & Controls for Embedded Finance (KYB/KYC/AML, Fraud, Disputes) (FSAGALAK)

Keywords

• Payment infrastructure
• Issuance platform-as-a-service
• UPI switch
• Card management system
• B2B fintech APIs

Headquarters

HQ city

Bengaluru

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Platform-as-a-Service Fees: Card91 operates as an Issuance Platform-as-a-Service provider, charging banks, NBFCs, and regulated entities for access to its payment infrastructure technology. The platform enables issuance of various payment instruments including prepaid cards, credit cards, forex cards, and UPI products.
2. API Access and Integration Fees: Revenue generated from API-driven integrations providing access to Card Management System, Switch/Processor, Access Control Server, and Mobile App/SDK capabilities for financial institutions.
3. Compliance and Consulting Services: Business & Product Consulting and Technology & Infrastructure Consulting services provided to financial institutions for payment ecosystem modernization.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Card91 operates as an Issuance Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) providing modular, API-first payment infrastructure that enables banks, NBFCs, fintechs, and other regulated financial institutions to issue, process, and manage payment instruments — including prepaid cards, credit cards, forex cards, credit-on-UPI, and UPI acquiring/issuing — without building core infrastructure. The platform combines a proprietary NPCI-certified UPI Switch (Blitz), credit and card management systems (Nimbus, Optimus), AI-driven verification and risk engines (VerifyIQ, BlitzScore, BlitzTrust), and consulting services to deliver end-to-end issuance lifecycle coverage.

Product overview

CARD91 is an Issuance Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provider offering a modular, API-first payment infrastructure platform for banks, NBFCs, fintechs, and other regulated entities. The product portfolio spans two layers: (1) Core payment products including prepaid payment instruments (PPI), the proprietary Blitz UPI Switch and Blitz 2.0 UPI Acquiring Switch, Nimbus credit line on UPI, Optimus credit card management system, and Visa-powered forex multi-currency travel cards; and (2) AI Lab intelligence products including VerifyIQ (AI-powered verification intelligence), BlitzScore (UPI credit score engine), and BlitzTrust (merchant verification and classification). Underlying these are platform components — switch/processor, access control server, and mobile app/SDK — plus consulting services and the Reignite return-to-work program. The platform abstracts the complexities of switching, settlement, compliance, and merchant onboarding for issuers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VerifyIQ: AI-powered verification intelligence platform for banks, NBFCs, and insurance companies to enable faster, policy-aligned onboarding decisions with confidence scoring
• Blitz
• Blitz 2.0
• Nimbus
• Optimus
• BlitzTrust
• BlitzScore

Products and services

• Blitz — UPI Switch Card91's proprietary UPI Switch platform, certified by NPCI for UPI 2.0, enabling banks and regulated entities to process UPI payments at scale with 99.99% uptime, near-zero technical declines, and a processing capacity of over 2000 transactions per second.
• Blitz 2.0 — UPI Acquiring Full-stack UPI Acquiring Switch solution for PSPs and aggregators, enabling banks and regulated entities to power and scale merchant UPI payments by abstracting switching, settlement, compliance, and merchant onboarding complexities.
• Nimbus — Credit Line on UPI Credit Line Management System (CLMS) enabling banks to design and manage credit lines on UPI, supporting pre-approved credit access directly through UPI apps with flexible repayment options including pay-later and EMI models.
• Optimus — Credit Card Management System Comprehensive credit card management platform covering the full card lifecycle including card program creation, digital cardholder onboarding, inventory management, backend automation, role and user configurations, and customer/agent mobile app access.
• Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) Prepaid card and wallet issuance infrastructure enabling businesses to offer digital wallets, virtual cards, and physical prepaid cards to end customers, with loading via payment gateway, NEFT, IMPS, NACH, and UPI.
• Forex Multi-Currency Travel Card Forex card issuance platform developed in partnership with Visa, enabling banks and fintechs to offer multi-currency travel cards with a complete management suite including card program creation, digital onboarding, inventory management, and automated backend processes.
• VerifyIQ AI-powered verification intelligence platform for banks, NBFCs, and insurance providers that unifies signals from PAN, Aadhaar, GST, phone attributes, vehicle data, court records, EPFO, and digital footprint, converting fragmented verification into a real-time confidence score for faster, policy-aligned onboarding decisions.
• BlitzScore — UPI Credit Score Engine AI-powered credit scoring engine leveraging UPI transaction data and behavioral signals to generate credit scores for lenders, enabling smarter lending decisions and financial inclusion.
• BlitzTrust — Merchant Verification & Classification AI-powered merchant onboarding, verification, and classification suite leveraging AI/ML algorithms for real-time risk assessment, merchant verification, and automated MCC classification to streamline onboarding, reduce fraud, and ensure regulatory compliance.
• Switch / Processor Modular switch and processor platform providing runtime decision-making, just-in-time funding, and business-defined payment authorizations with scalable transaction processing capabilities for payment operations.
• Access Control Server Access control server platform providing role-based access controls and authorization capabilities for payment operations and card management across issuing institutions.
• Mobile App / SDK Mobile application and software development kit providing cardholder-facing mobile app access for card control, PIN management, and transaction monitoring.
• Business & Product Consulting Consulting services helping clients design and launch payment products, including prepaid cards, forex, credit cards, and UPI-based offerings with go-to-market strategy support.
• Technology & Infrastructure Consulting Technical consulting for payment infrastructure architecture, integration, and compliance with regulatory frameworks including RBI Master Directions and NPCI operating circulars.
• UPI Issuance Platform Production-ready UPI Issuance Platform enabling banks, payment service providers, fintechs, and enterprise platforms to build and scale UPI-led payment experiences by abstracting complexities around switching, settlement, compliance, and merchant onboarding.

Quantifiable outcome

• UPI Switch processing capacity of 2000+ transactions per second with 99.99% uptime
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• VisacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2024CARD91 partnered with Visa to empower issuers with an enhanced forex card platform. This partnership enables banks and financial institutions to offer forex cards to their customers through CARD91's infrastructure, leveraging Visa's global card network for international transactions.
• NPCIcoreTechnology or IntegrationNational Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) certification and partnership for UPI Switch (Blitz) platform. CARD91's Blitz is certified by NPCI for UPI 2.0, enabling banks and regulated entities to process UPI payments through CARD91's infrastructure.
• MastercardcoreTechnology or IntegrationCard network partner enabling CARD91 to provide payment card issuance solutions through Mastercard's global network.
• RuPaycoreTechnology or IntegrationIndian domestic card network partner enabling CARD91 to support RuPay card issuance for banks and financial institutions.
• NASSCOMminorOthersIndustry association membership for fintech ecosystem participation and networking.
• India Fintech FoundationminorOthersIndustry body membership for regulatory engagement and fintech ecosystem development.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Decentro: Decentro provides API-driven banking, KYC, and card issuance infrastructure for fintechs and NBFCs in India. It directly overlaps with Card91's issuance-as-a-service, KYC verification, and BaaS-style offerings targeting banks, NBFCs, and fintechs.
• Juspay: Juspay is an Indian payment orchestration and processing platform offering Hyperswitch, a UPI/card routing and processing layer for banks and merchants. Juspay directly competes with Card91 in UPI switch, payment processing, and orchestration infrastructure for Indian regulated entities.
• Zeta: Zeta is an Indian cloud-native core banking and credit card processing platform serving banks and fintechs globally. Zeta directly competes with Card91's Optimus credit card management system and broader issuance-as-a-service positioning for bank issuers.
• M2P Fintech: M2P Fintech is an Indian core banking and card issuance infrastructure provider serving banks, NBFCs, and fintechs with APIs for cards, lending, and payments. It directly competes with Card91's prepaid, credit, and forex card issuance platforms and UPI infrastructure.
• Setu (Pine Labs): Setu, owned by Pine Labs, is an Indian fintech API infrastructure platform offering account aggregation, payments, and KYC services to banks, fintechs, and NBFCs. Setu competes directly with Card91 in API-first fintech infrastructure for regulated entities, particularly in the verification and payments layers.

Regional players

• EnKash: EnKash is an Indian B2B payments and corporate card platform for SMBs and enterprises. It overlaps with Card91 in card-based payment infrastructure but focuses on corporate spend management rather than broad issuing-as-a-service for banks.

Broad incumbents

• Marqeta: Marqeta is a US-listed modern card issuing platform that pioneered API-first card processing. While based in the US, its card-issuance-as-a-service model and target customer profile (fintechs, banks, corporates) closely parallel Card91's core issuing platform value proposition.
• Razorpay: Razorpay is one of India's largest fintech platforms offering payment gateway, payment aggregation, and increasingly banking and credit infrastructure. As a much broader incumbent, Razorpay overlaps with Card91 in payment acceptance, routing, and B2B fintech infrastructure.
• Galileo Financial Technologies: Galileo, owned by SoFi, is a global payment processing and card issuing platform for fintechs and banks. It is comparable to Card91 as a broad incumbent in API-driven issuing and processing infrastructure, though operating at much larger scale internationally.

Emerging players

• Hyperface: Hyperface is an Indian card-issuance-as-a-service startup enabling fintechs and banks to launch credit, debit, and prepaid card programs quickly. It directly competes with Card91's core issuance PaaS, particularly for fintech customers launching co-branded or corporate cards.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Card91_io
• Facebookfacebook.com/card91social
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/card91
• Instagraminstagram.com/card91_

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors11 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 Card91