Payments

Introducing Card Launching 101 + Guide

Launching a card has become a core part of banks' and fintechs' product strategy.
In Tearsheet's new Card Launching 101 guide, we speak to some of the best in the industry about what it takes to launch a successful program.

Tearsheet Editors | October 03, 2023

Launching a card is such a core part of today’s financial services. Whether you’re an incumbent or a fintech, a card is likely – or will likely be – a cornerstone product in your portfolio and an important contributor to your revenue.

What baffles me is that with all the new technology platforms, banking as a service, and experienced program managers, there’s still a gap for firms and entrepreneurs to really understand what goes into launching and managing a card.

We wanted to shine some major light on the card launching process making it easier, smoother, and if things go right, more successful.

And to do that, we enlisted some of the best fintech and financial services firms out there to talk about what they’ve learned launching and scaling card products. We turned to some of the top brands – like Wise and Dave – with millions of cards in their users’ hands. We also turned to the platforms and banks – firms like Cross River Bank and First National Bank of Omaha.

And we talked to Galileo – the technology and processing platform powering the cards of many of today’s most popular fintechs. Thank you to Galileo, who has supported this project from the beginning. We appreciate your support and the work you do throughout the industry.

This podcast mini-series is intended to help you get your card launch right. One thing you’ll hear as we speak to some of the best in the industry is the need to plan well. It doesn’t mean you’ll get it right the first time around but at least you’ll have a way forward. We want you to know what’s ahead for you and ultimately to learn from some of the best and brightest around, who’ve launched cards ultimately used by millions of people and companies. Learn from their battle scars and successes.

Download the guide

This is the first of a three part series (Episode 2, Episode 3). To dive even deeper, I encourage you to download the guide we published incorporating all this inside information and more. To download your free guide, go to tearsheet.co/cardguide

This first part of the series address all the planning that goes into ideating, creating, and launching a card.

What you'll learn

In this episode. we address the following:

Introduction to the importance of launching and managing cards in financial services.
The need for understanding the card launching process and collaborating with partners.
Planning and the "why" behind launching a card, considering customer problems.
Different approaches to launching cards as strategic differentiators or add-ons.
Case studies from Wise, Bluevine, Dave, and their reasons for launching cards.
Understanding the differences between debit and credit cards and their implications.
Planning for the future of card programs and ecosystems.
The importance of testing, not rushing to market, and iterating.
The role of value proposition in connecting with a company's mission.
Differentiation through features surrounding the card and fulfilling customer needs.