Card Issuance Guide

Unit offers a full suite of card solutions with features to help you scale your program and unlock revenue in the form of interchange. Cards are issued through our expanding network of bank partners.

Card Construct

• Physical cards: Plastic or metal cards shipped directly to cardholders
• Virtual cards: Instantly available to initiate spend, created via API or through the RTL portal

Note

Virtual cards are not the same as cards added to mobile wallets (for example, Apple Pay or Google Pay). Cards added to mobile wallets are typically tokenized physical cards, with a design akin to their physical counterpart.

Card Use Cases

Unit supports physical and virtual card issuance across a range of client use cases:

• Debit: Available in business and individual variants
• Prepaid: Supporting FSA, HSA, and HRA use cases
• Credit: Offered via Charge card, available to businesses

Card Features

• Contactless: "Tap-to-pay" functionality embedded in card chips, powered by near-field communication (NFC) technology
• Mobile Wallet: Tokenized card credentials living in a mobile wallet, available in Apple, Google, and Samsung mobile wallets
• Optional ATM access: Including optional surcharge-free access through the Allpoint network

Designing and Managing a Card Program

Unit offers a full range of customization and design options for your card programs. Depending on the path and extent of card customization you take, you should expect separate costs and inventory management responsibilities as it relates to card stock.

Here's a view of the three paths you can opt into for designing your cards with Unit.

1. Logo Card: Unit's out-of-the-box, fastest-to-market card design option

Best for optimizing for speed-to-market.

Design details — Premium, matte-black plastic cards featuring your logo in white on the top right corner of the front of the card.

Timeline — 2–3 weeks until cards in hand.

Cost and inventory — Our most cost-effective option. Unit manages all Logo card inventory with our vendor, CPI. You are only charged for cards you issue, on a per-card basis.

What Unit needs from you — A high-quality vector logo (.ai or .eps).

2. On-Demand Cards: For clients opting for more flexibility in card design

Best for brand color control without committing to a custom card program.

Design details — Minimalistic, PVC-based plastic cards, with flexibility in color on the front of the card. The back of the card remains white.

Timeline — Approximately 4-5 weeks until cards in hand.

Cost and inventory — Priced above the Logo card to account for added design flexibility. Unit manages all card inventory for On-demand cards with our vendor, CPI. You are only charged for cards you issue, on a per-card basis.

What Unit needs from you — The hex code of your chosen color and a high-quality vector logo.

3. Custom Cards: Optimized for breadth of design and customization

Best for premium materials, or coming in with an existing design, when you can plan several months ahead.

Design details — Full card customization, including premium materials such as metal and hybrid options.

Timeline — Approximately 12 weeks until cards in hand, but varies based on design and material availability.

Cost and inventory — Cards are variable, but typically higher than the Logo and On-demand options. Please reach out to your contact at Unit for pricing and order minimums. For custom cards, you will be set up with a CPI portal login to track, order, and keep tabs on your card stock inventory. Unit does not manage card inventory for custom card designs. You are charged per batch card order.

What Unit needs from you — Existing design assets and a high-quality vector logo (.ai or .eps).

For more information on the available custom design options, please review our Custom Card & Collateral Design Guide. There you will find Visa brand specifications and the templates needed to complete your design.

Card Carriers

For Logo and On-demand cards, Unit provides a standard card carrier in which cards are shipped. If you opt into a Custom Card, you also have the option to design your carrier, giving you fuller customization of design, colors, and marketing inserts for card carriers and envelopes. Timelines and cost vary for carrier customization; please reach out to your contact at Unit for more information.

Standard carrier

Provided by Unit with Logo and On-demand cards.

Custom carrier

Branded design, colors, and optional marketing inserts.

Card Creation & Delivery

• Day 1. Client requests card via Unit API
• Day 2. Card printer receives card order
• Day 3. Card printer produces card
• Day 4. Card printer mails card via USPS or express courier

Note: Contact your Customer Success Manager for delivery options and pricing.

Card Activation & Setup

• Once the card is delivered, it must be activated prior to use. In most cases, PIN selection is also required
• Card activation and PIN selection may be integrated into your app or web experience utilizing Unit's card-management APIs

Card Security

3D Secure

Unit-issued cards support 3D Secure (3DS) authentication, an industry-standard security protocol that adds an extra layer of verification for online card transactions.

How it works:

• 3DS authentication happens automatically at the network level when cardholders make online purchases at participating merchants
• When strong authentication is required, cardholders are prompted to verify their identity (typically via SMS one-time passcode or biometric authentication through their banking app)
• Once authenticated, the transaction is approved and liability shifts from the issuer to the merchant

Benefits:

• Enhanced security: Reduces fraud by verifying the cardholder's identity before completing online purchases
• Regulatory compliance: Meets Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements in regions like the EEA and UK
• Liability protection: Merchants that request 3DS authentication receive liability protection for authenticated transactions
• No integration required: 3DS works automatically for your cardholders — no API configuration needed on your end

Cardholder experience:

When making an online purchase at a merchant that supports 3DS, cardholders will:

1. Enter their card details at checkout
2. Be redirected to an authentication screen when strong authentication is requested
3. Verify their identity (via SMS code, app notification, or biometric authentication)
4. Return to the merchant to complete the purchase

This authentication step typically adds only seconds to the checkout process while significantly reducing fraud risk.

Cards Billing

Card fees are billed on a monthly basis and include:

• Issuance fees (per card rate)
• Postage
• Expedited shipping and handling charges (if applicable)
• Returned mail charges

Custom cards and other materials (e.g., inserts and carriers) have upfront manufacturing costs that are in addition to the fees listed above and are billed prior to the start of manufacturing. Programming fees also apply for new or modified custom card packages.

Note: Manufacturing and programming fees do not apply to the Logo Card option. Contact your Customer Success Manager for more information on cards pricing and billing.

Visa Signature

Visa Signature is an optional premium card program available to Unit credit card customers.

• Cards feature the prestigious Visa Signature logo

• Cardholders have access to special benefits that include rewards, insurance and other exclusive perks (check out Visa's program page for more information)

• Unit's customers benefit from increased adoption and spending levels, and will earn higher rates of interchange (tier 2 and above)

Note: Contact your Customer Success Manager for pricing and eligibility requirements.