Nium launches domestic card issuance in US

Nium announced the launch of domestic card issuance in the United States, extending its multi-region issuing platform to North America and allowing businesses to issue local virtual and physical cards while remaining connected to a global payments network that spans more than 190 countries.

The company framed the offer as a single issuing platform for firms operating across APAC, Europe, the Middle East and North America. Nium said the platform replaces separate card issuers, integrations and compliance regimes for each region by consolidating issuance and payout functions on one system.

Nium reported it issued more than 41 million card credentials across APAC, the Middle East and Europe over the past 12 months. The U.S. product applies that existing infrastructure to domestic and international firms operating in the American market and lets customers who use Nium-issued cards worldwide accept and use those cards in the U.S.

The platform supports single-use and multi-use credentials as well as both virtual and physical cards, enabling businesses to pick a card type that fits a use case or risk profile. Nium also introduced its just-in-time funding model for the U.S., a method that funds card transactions when they occur to reduce idle capital and help manage cash flow.

Nium outlined common commercial uses for the service including supplier payments, expense management, loyalty rewards, tuition payments and employee incentives.

Travel companies were identified as a key market for the expansion. Nium has issued tens of millions of card credentials for travel businesses in APAC and Europe; the company cited travel’s payment complexity, where a single booking can require payments to hotels, airlines, ground operators and independent properties with differing payment preferences.

Yael Klein, Nium’s senior vice president of travel, said: “A single booking can touch hotels, airlines, ground operators, and independent properties, and each one wants to be paid differently. Bringing card issuance to the US is the natural next step for the travel businesses that already run on Nium across APAC and Europe.”

Rob Regan, Nium’s EVP of Americas, noted market projections and demand for virtual cards: “The virtual cards market is projected to reach $15.14 trillion by 2031, with North America representing roughly 45 percent of that growth. US card issuance gives businesses the infrastructure to capture that opportunity, pairing local economics with global scale.”

Visa’s head of U.S. enablement, Bill Dobbins, commented on the expansion and described it as simplifying how businesses scale and operate across borders.

Nium sells the U.S. issuing capability to both domestic companies and international firms entering or expanding in the U.S., offering a single integration point instead of multiple local partnerships. The company presented the combined issuance, payout tools and funding model as a response to payment fragmentation in sectors handling high volumes of vendor payments and cross-border settlement.