Issuer

An Issuer (or issuing bank) is a bank or financial institution that offers payment cards (credit, debit, prepaid) to consumers on behalf of card networks like Visa or Mastercard.

During a transaction, the issuer receives the authorization request, verifies the cardholder's available funds or credit limit, performs fraud checks, and responds with an approval or decline. The issuer bears the primary risk if the cardholder defaults on their credit balance.