Cross River launches its in-house card processing engine to control the full card stack

Cross River launches its in-house card processing engine, expanding its embedded finance infrastructure to include complete ownership of the card technology stack from card issuing and authorization through to processing and settlement empowering fintech partners with greater flexibility and operational control.

What the New Processing Engine Means

With the introduction of its proprietary card processing engine, Cross River Bank moves beyond relying on third-party processors and now integrates card processing capabilities directly within its banking core. This strategic shift gives the bank and its clients tighter alignment between issuing, compliance, and transaction processing helping streamline operations and enhance scalability.

By controlling the entire card lifecycle, Cross River can offer fintech companies a more seamless and customizable experience when launching and scaling debit and payment card programs. This includes supporting debit, credit, virtual and physical card products through a single, unified infrastructure that spans authorization, settlement and fraud controls.

Strategic Benefits for Fintech Partners

1. More Operational Flexibility
   Integrating card processing within its own systems allows Cross River’s partners to tailor card-related features to their users’ needs without juggling multiple vendors or integration points. This reduces complexity and speeds up time to market for new card-based products.
2. Scalable Growth Support
   By owning the full stack, Cross River can help partners scale card programs rapidly from pilot phases to high-volume usage with unified routing, API-based controls, compliance automation and real-time monitoring built into a single platform.
3. Enhanced Security and Compliance Integration
   Internal processing allows Cross River to embed robust compliance and security features directly into transaction flows. With its status as a regulated bank and PCI-certified infrastructure, this reduces risk and makes audit-ready operations standard for partners launching card products.
4. Simplified Partner Experience
   Fintech customers, such as Aion Financial Technologies, the pilot partner for the engine, gain a friction-free onboarding experience tailored to their overall product ecosystem, from accounts to payments.

Why This Matters for the Fintech and Payments Landscape

The addition of a full in-house card processing engine positions Cross River among a select group of financial institutions with end-to-end control over card product infrastructure, a significant advantage in the competitive fintech ecosystem. Historically, many banks and fintechs rely on third-party processors to handle settlement and authorization, which can introduce complexity and slow innovation.

By internalizing these capabilities, Cross River can innovate faster, reduce points of failure, and offer more customizable services to embedded finance partners. This is particularly relevant as fintechs strive to build differentiated experiences such as custom card controls, reward structures, spend analytics, and enhanced fraud defenses without managing disparate vendor relationships.

Integration With Broader Cross River Infrastructure

Cross River’s core banking platform (COS) , a proprietary, API-based system used widely across the embedded finance ecosystem now works in concert with the new processing engine. This synergy allows partners to launch and manage card programs alongside other banking services, such as real-time payments, lending and digital wallets, within a unified operational model.

Looking Ahead: What This Means for Clients

• Quicker Innovation Cycles: Clients launching card programs can iterate faster, deploy new features and experiment with product variations without lengthy third-party integration timelines.
• Better Product Differentiation: Full-stack control gives partners the ability to embed unique card experiences into their platforms from dynamic spend rules and fraud triggers to loyalty and rewards integration.
• Stronger Risk and Compliance Posture: As a regulated bank, Cross River embeds compliance and monitoring directly into processing controls, reducing the operational burden on partners
• Scalable Economic Opportunity: Owning the processing layer allows Cross River to capture greater value from transactions and potentially pass cost efficiencies on to partners, especially as volumes grow.

Cross River’s launch of its in-house card processing engine marks an important evolution in its embedded finance strategy enabling fintechs and tech platforms to build more sophisticated, secure, and scalable card programs by leveraging a single, deeply integrated platform that covers everything from banking core to card settlement.

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