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Extend: If you want to layer virtual cards onto an existing business credit line rather than issue new cards from scratch
Lithic
API-first card issuing platform with direct Visa, Mastercard and Amex network connections
As of 1 September 2026, Lithic's pricing is not published; the vendor quotes on request. A card issuing infrastructure provider that fintechs and platforms use to launch their own debit, credit or prepaid card programmes, offering both a lighter processor-only mode and a fuller managed programme service. Softwr lists it under APIs. Lithic is available on Web, API.
Overview
What Lithic does
Lithic gives companies the APIs to issue physical and virtual cards, authorise and settle transactions, and manage card programmes, with direct connections to Visa, Mastercard and American Express networks rather than routing through an intermediary processor. It offers two service depths: a Processor Client mode for companies that already hold their own issuing licence and banking relationships, and Lithic Program Management for companies that want Lithic to coordinate the bank and network relationships on their behalf. The distinguishing detail is that split: most card issuing platforms sell one bundled service, but Lithic explicitly separates infrastructure access from full programme management, letting a more sophisticated fintech take on more of the regulatory and banking relationship itself in exchange for presumably lower fees, while a less resourced company buys the fuller managed service. Buyers are fintechs, neobanks, expense management platforms and embedded finance products building a card product rather than embedding someone else's. The trade-off is that, like most infrastructure in this space, pricing is entirely undisclosed and volume-dependent, so a company cannot budget Lithic against a competitor like Marqeta or Galileo without opening a sales conversation, and building on any card issuer of this kind still leaves a company responsible for its own compliance obligations around the programme it runs.
What people use it for
- A fintech wanting direct Visa or Mastercard network access rather than routing through a third-party processor
- A company that already holds its own issuing licence and wants API access without full programme management
- A neobank or expense platform wanting Lithic to manage bank and network relationships end to end
- A product team prototyping a card programme in sandbox before committing to a launch
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The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Lithic.
- Pricing is entirely undisclosed, so a company cannot compare total cost against Marqeta, Galileo or Highnote without a sales conversation.
- Choosing Processor Client mode still leaves the company responsible for holding its own issuing licence and managing the regulatory relationship, which is a substantial undertaking many teams underestimate.
- As with any card infrastructure provider, an outage or network issue at Lithic becomes a direct outage for every card programme built on it, and a customer has limited visibility into root cause during an incident.
- Building a card programme on API infrastructure requires real engineering investment; it is not a plug-and-play product for a non-technical team.
- Switching card infrastructure providers after launch is a major undertaking involving card reissuance and programme migration, so the initial choice carries lasting lock-in.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Lithic
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- LithicvsTribe Payments
Tribe Payments: If you need combined issuing and acquiring processing rather than issuing alone
Pricing
What Lithic costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Lithic
On request
- Volume and interchange-based pricing, not published
- Separate Processor Client and Program Management pricing tracks
- Custom quote required via sales
Capabilities
Features
Direct network connections
Native integrations to Visa, Mastercard and American Express rather than an intermediate processor
Processor Client mode
API access for companies holding their own issuing licence and bank relationships
Lithic Program Management
Managed coordination of bank and network relationships for companies without their own licence
Card lifecycle APIs
Issuance, authorisation, settlement and card controls exposed programmatically
Sandbox environment
Testing environment for building and validating card programmes before launch
Real-time authorization controls
Programmable spend rules enforced at the point of authorisation
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Does Lithic publish pricing?
No, pricing is volume-based and requires a sales conversation.
What is the difference between Processor Client and Program Management?
Processor Client suits companies with their own issuing licence and bank relationships; Program Management is for companies wanting Lithic to coordinate those relationships on their behalf.
Which networks does it connect to?
Visa, Mastercard and American Express directly.
Keep looking
Where to go from Lithic
- Lithic alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Lithic pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Lithic badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All APIs softwareThe full category
- Best APIs softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Lithic, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
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