Cards

Issue debit cards that spend stablecoins directly from a Privy account

Cards enable consumers and businesses to spend stablecoins directly from a Privy account at any merchant that accepts Visa. Your app issues virtual or physical debit cards backed by a Privy wallet, so users spend their onchain balance without manually offramping first.

Card issuing is powered by Bridge and Stripe Issuing. Bridge manages customer identity, KYC, onchain fund movement, and statements. Stripe Issuing creates the card and handles authorization, spend controls, and webhooks.

How it works

Lead Bank issues the card, and Bridge is the program manager that moves funds onchain. Stripe provides Issuing, identity verification, and managed support, while Privy provides the embedded wallet, all in one integration.

Cards spend just-in-time from the account’s stablecoin balance; funds are never preloaded onto the card. Each purchase pulls stablecoins from the account onchain at the moment of authorization. Wallet owners must submit an onchain approval so Bridge’s smart contract can pull funds at authorization time.

Spend from vault balances

Balances backing a card don’t have to sit idle. Users can deposit their stablecoins in Earn vaults, where they accrue yield, and withdraw just-in-time to fund card spend. A single balance both grows and stays spendable, so users earn on their stablecoins right up until they use the card.

Choose your integration

Privy supports two paths for launching a card program. Prebuilt components offer a managed path designed for faster time to market, while direct API integrations give your team more control over the customer experience, operations, and program economics. The right approach depends on how much of the program your team wants to own today and as you scale.

	Prebuilt components	API integration
Best for	Teams prioritizing speed to market with a managed consumer card program	Teams that want greater control over their card program and customer experience
How you build	Prebuilt UI components in the Privy React SDK	Stripe Issuing and Bridge APIs
Cardholder experience	Pre-approved flows and UI provided by Privy	Custom UX and branding built by your app
Customer relationship	Card servicing and support managed by Stripe	Your team can own the end-customer relationship and support experience
Compliance	Powered by Stripe	Powered by Stripe or your in-house compliance team
Economics	Designed to make launching a program economical from day one	Variable economics designed to support programs as they scale
Operations	Core operational workflows managed for you	Greater ownership and flexibility across program operations
As you grow	Designed with a path to bring more functions in-house over time	Full control over the program from the outset

Not sure which path to choose? Prebuilt components are designed for teams that want to get to market quickly without building the operational stack themselves. If owning your customer experience, support model, program economics, or other aspects of the card program is important from day one, a direct API integration may be a better fit. Teams can also start with prebuilt components and bring more of the experience in-house as they grow.

Prebuilt components

Embed bank-approved card UI with the React SDK.

API integration

Issue cards server-side with Stripe Issuing and Bridge.

Get started

Prebuilt components are self-serve. Integrate them with the React SDK and test in sandbox, then contact [e-mail] for production access.

Server-side API integrations begin with a guided Privy and Bridge onboarding. Reach out to [e-mail] to get started.