Lithic & Monavate launch single route to card issuance

Lithic and Monavate have partnered to offer companies a single route to launching card programmes for products that use both fiat and digital currencies.

The arrangement combines Lithic's card processing platform with Monavate's regulated issuing, scheme memberships and settlement infrastructure. It is intended to reduce the number of supplier relationships fintech and digital asset businesses typically need to manage when setting up a card programme.

Launching a card product often requires separate agreements with an issuer, a processor and a settlement provider, leaving customers to manage multiple contracts, technical integrations and operational risks across different providers.

Under the partnership, Monavate will provide the regulated layer, including its authorisation as an e-money institution, card scheme memberships and bank identification numbers across its jurisdictions. Lithic will provide the processing layer for authorisation and card lifecycle management across debit, prepaid, charge and credit products.

Both companies are targeting a market where conventional payments and digital asset services are converging. The partnership is designed for businesses that want a single commercial and technical path to card issuance rather than assembling separate components themselves.

Blended market

Exodus owns Monavate, the self-custodial finance and payments company. Exodus acquired Monavate in 2026, bringing issuing and settlement functions in-house rather than relying on external providers for those parts of the payments chain.

That ownership structure gives Monavate a role beyond programme management. It also places the company within a broader push by digital asset businesses to build more of the payments stack in-house as they seek direct access to regulated infrastructure.

For Lithic, the partnership expands its reach into markets that require a regulated issuing and settlement partner to support customer launches. It works with programme managers to help clients introduce card products more quickly and support broader roll-outs.

Monavate says it has issued more than 6.3 million cards and processed more than USD $13.5 billion in payments to date. It serves clients across fintech, crypto, travel, insurance and media, with programmes live in more than 150 countries.

The deal also points to a broader shift in payments infrastructure, as specialist firms try to package regulated access, processing and settlement into fewer supplier relationships. For fintechs and digital asset companies, that matters because card launches often involve long approval cycles, complex compliance requirements and significant technical build work.

Single relationship

The combined offer is intended to shorten the path from a commercial decision to a live programme. Instead of managing separate contracts and integrations for licensing, processing, and settlement, customers would have a single route.

Monavate brings authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority as an e-money institution, along with principal membership of Mastercard, Visa and Discover. Those memberships matter because they provide access to major card networks without relying entirely on another intermediary.

Lithic's role centres on issuer processing and authorisation infrastructure. Its platform uses direct network connections and supports programmable issuing across a range of card types.

Michael Rolph, Chief Executive Officer of Monavate, set out the company's view of the partnership.

"Companies building card programs should not have to choose between regulated reach and modern technology," said Michael Rolph, Chief Executive Officer of Monavate. "Monavate holds the licenses, the scheme memberships and the settlement infrastructure. Lithic runs one of the strongest processing platforms in the market. Together, we can take a combined offering to the world and serve both traditional and on-chain finance from the same foundation."

Nikil Konduru, Chief Commercial Officer of Lithic, said the overlap between traditional financial services and blockchain-based services is becoming more pronounced.

"Traditional and on-chain finance are blending together," said Nikil Konduru, Chief Commercial Officer of Lithic. "That's exactly what our programmable card issuing infrastructure was built to support. Partnering with Monavate lets us bring that infrastructure to more regulated markets as those programs keep growing."