Fintechs, retailers and digital platforms have started issuing cards under their own brand as a growth strategy. The question is no longer whether, but which model to adopt: co-branded, the traditional path, or white label, which is rising alongside Banking as a Service.
What it means to issue a card under your brand
Putting your brand on a card is more than adding a logo. It means embedding a financial layer inside your product, which affects user experience and the revenue model.
It is a strategic, not operational, decision: it involves how the user accesses, uses and interacts with the service day to day.
The co-branded model: the best-known path
In co-branded, the card is issued in partnership with a bank and both brands appear. The company brings the customer base and positioning; the partner provides the infrastructure.
It is widely used by retailers and loyalty programs for its accessibility. Over time, however, its limitations begin to show.
Where co-branded starts to limit the business
The central issue is not issuance, but the customer relationship, which stays centralized with the partner. This pushes part of the journey outside your ecosystem. In practice, the user may:
- —Access invoices outside your company's environment;
- —Interact with the issuing bank at critical moments;
- —Associate the product more with the financial institution than with your brand.
The white label model: control as the starting point
In white label, the company builds the card experience from its own product, while the financial infrastructure operates in the background: issuance, processing and compliance.
The user does not switch apps or leave the environment at key moments. McKinsey embedded finance studies suggest that integrated financial products can significantly increase — sometimes more than double — recurring usage.
The most important difference: who controls the customer
In co-branded, the relationship is fragmented and creates a structural dependency on the partner. In white label, the company concentrates the relationship, from onboarding to recurring use.
Controlling the journey means better understanding the user's financial behavior — and that is what allows the product to evolve consistently.
Impact on monetization and growth
In co-branded, monetization is shared and depends on the partner's terms, which limits new revenue sources. In white label, the company captures a larger share and can explore new monetization layers.
According to Abecs, card transaction volume in Brazil surpassed R$ 3.7 trillion in 2023, driven by credit. Worth remembering: monetization only happens with real card usage, and real usage depends on integration into the journey.
So, which model should you choose?
The choice defines the card's role in the business. Those who see the card as a complement fit co-branded; those who see it as central to the strategy find more value in white label.
| Aspect | Co-branded | White label |
|---|---|---|
| User experience | Shared with the bank | Fully integrated to the brand |
| Journey control | Partial | Total |
| Customer relationship | Divided | Centralized |
| Data ownership | Shared | Mostly the company's |
| Monetization | Limited / shared | More flexible / larger |
| Evolution speed | Partner-dependent | More agile |
| Time-to-market | Moderate | Fast (with BaaS) |
| Operational complexity | Lower | Moderate (abstracted by infra) |
| Third-party dependence | High | Lower (more autonomy) |
In the end, it is about building relationship
Issuing a card under your brand is not about stamping a logo — it is about building and keeping the customer relationship inside your product. The model you choose determines how much of that relationship stays with you.
