Design and ship cards
Last updated: January 29, 2025
As part of your Issuing onboarding, you must submit a card design as follows:
- Physical cards – A card design is always required, and you must select a method to ship the cards to your cardholders.
- Virtual cards – A design is only required if you plan to expose the cards to your cardholders through a UI.
The quickest option is to use Checkout.com's default card design and add your company name or logo:
To use the default design, submit your company logo to your Checkout.com Onboarding Manager.
For complete control over the look and feel of your card, you can create a custom design, as follows:
Checkout.com shares a card customization guide for your in-house designers to use as a reference.
Customize the colors used across the card, as well as the placement of your logo.
For physical cards, you can select the color of the inner and outer card layers and the finishing. You can also choose from several materials, including sustainable options such as recycled ocean plastic and PVC plastic-free materials.When you’ve finalized your card design, submit it to your Onboarding Manager.
Checkout.com reviews and approves your design and submits it to the card scheme for approval.
For physical cards, we also request approval from the card manufacturer.For physical cards, you can order a set of test cards to review. When you approve the test cards, the manufacturer prints an initial batch of cards, ready for personalization.
For virtual cards, you can start issuing cards using the API or the Dashboard as soon as your design is approved.
When your physical cards are dispatched, they are attached to a customizable card carrier. The carrier can be an A4 paper, a slide pack, or a card sleeve.
If you choose to send the cardholder their PIN in the mail, the PIN is packaged separately in a customizable tri-fold letter.
Note
To adhere to Payment Card Industry (PCI) requirements, you must have an alternative method of providing your cardholders with their PIN if you choose to not send them a PIN mailer.
During your onboarding, you must also choose the method you want to use to ship physical cards directly to cardholders.
When you create a physical card using the API or the Dashboard, the manufacturer takes a card from the batch and personalizes it with the cardholder name and expiry date you provided. The card is then shipped to the cardholder by your chosen method.
Note
To ship cards to cardholders outside of the European Union, contact your Account Manager.