Company Description
CPI Card Group Inc. (Nasdaq: PMTS) is a payments technology company that focuses on payment cards and related digital solutions. The company describes itself as providing a comprehensive range of payment cards and digital capabilities that help customers navigate the evolving world of payments, while supporting their brands and end-user experiences.
CPI Card Group serves clients across different industries, sizes, and scales through a combination of experienced employees, a network of technology and card service providers, and high-security production and card services facilities located in the United States. Across its communications, the company emphasizes building personal relationships, earning trust, and enhancing the way people pay every day.
Business focus and offerings
According to company disclosures and press releases, CPI Card Group’s activities center on payment card production and services together with digital payment solutions. The business includes financial payment cards and integrated card services for card-issuing banks in the United States, as well as integrated card services for prepaid debit card program managers. The company’s operations are reported through segments that include Debit and Credit and Prepaid Debit.
The Debit and Credit segment produces financial payment cards and provides integrated card services to card-issuing banks in the United States. The Prepaid Debit segment provides integrated card services to prepaid debit card program managers in the United States and other markets. Company communications also highlight solutions related to instant issuance, prepaid programs, eco-focused payment cards, and digital capabilities that connect physical cards with mobile and online use.
Instant issuance and SaaS-based platforms
CPI Card Group reports that it offers Software-as-a-Service-based instant issuance solutions in the U.S. market through its Card@Once® platform. Card@Once is described as a SaaS-based instant issuance solution that enables financial institutions to quickly issue and activate payment cards. The company notes that Card@Once has been deployed in thousands of installations across more than 2,000 financial institutions, generating recurring revenue streams from ongoing processing activities.
In a partnership announcement with Nymbus, CPI stated that Card@Once is integrated with the Nymbus Core Platform to support seamless instant card issuance. This integration allows financial institutions to print and activate payment cards in-branch using a turnkey solution. The integration is described as eliminating the need for manual entry into separate systems and enabling cards to be instantly issued and activated through PIN-based transactions, mobile banking, or interactive voice response (IVR), with support for in-branch PIN capabilities.
Prepaid and gift card solutions
The company reports that it provides prepaid card solutions and works with prepaid program managers. CPI has highlighted its role in open-loop gift card production and in providing prepaid solutions that can be integrated with digital security features. In its communications, CPI describes a strategic partnership and minority equity investment in Karta, an Australia-based prepaid program manager and payments technology firm. Through this partnership, CPI is integrating Karta’s SafeToBuy technology with CPI’s U.S. prepaid solutions to help address prepaid card fraud and connect physical, mobile, and online use through contactless prepaid payment cards.
As Karta’s exclusive supplier in the U.S., CPI states that it will produce and personalize contactless gift cards with EMV chips embedding Karta’s SafeToBuy applet. The company indicates that this approach is intended to help mitigate fraudulent draining of prepaid cards by embedding data and security in the chip rather than in printed card details.
Eco-focused payment card solutions
CPI Card Group describes itself as a provider of eco-focused payment card solutions in the U.S. market. The company reports that it has sold hundreds of millions of eco-focused debit, credit, and prepaid card or package solutions. These eco-focused offerings are presented as part of CPI’s broader market and product expansion strategies and as a response to demand for more environmentally conscious payment card options.
On-demand and digitally driven card production
In line with its strategy to grow and diversify, CPI Card Group announced the acquisition of Arroweye Solutions, Inc., described as a leading provider of digitally driven, on-demand payment card solutions for the U.S. market. Arroweye’s technology-driven platform and production capabilities are said to eliminate the need for customers to hold inventory and to support hyper-personalization and rapid turnaround times.
CPI states that adding Arroweye’s on-demand payment card solutions to its portfolio of payment card production, personalization, instant issuance, prepaid, and digital solutions allows the combined organization to offer more choices to a large base of customers. The company also notes that it intends to leverage its resources and market position to expand Arroweye’s penetration with new customers.
Market and product expansion initiatives
Across multiple earnings releases, CPI Card Group outlines several areas of market and product expansion. These include:
- Healthcare payment solutions
- Digital offerings such as push provisioning capabilities for mobile wallets
- Payment card fraud solutions
- Closed-loop prepaid solutions
The company presents these initiatives as complementing its core debit, credit, and prepaid card activities and as avenues for incremental growth beyond its established markets.
Recognition and specialized card formats
CPI Card Group has reported recognition for specific card and packaging projects. For example, the company’s UHCU Metal Card and package, developed with United Heritage Credit Union, was named a finalist in the 2025 Élan Awards’ Personalization & Fulfillment category. CPI describes this project as an example of its capabilities from initial card concept through production, personalization, and fulfillment, and as a demonstration of its work on distinctive, premium payment solutions.
Capital structure and financing arrangements
From its SEC filings, CPI Card Group discloses that it maintains a senior secured notes structure and an asset-based revolving credit facility. In a Form 8-K, the company reported entering into an amendment to its credit agreement that increased the available borrowing capacity under its asset-based revolving credit facility (the ABL Revolver). The same filing notes that the company issued a notice of redemption to redeem a portion of its outstanding senior secured notes, using the optional redemption feature under the indenture.
Another Form 8-K filing describes the company’s practice of issuing press releases to announce quarterly financial results and holding public conference calls where senior executives review results and provide presentations. These filings attach earnings releases and investor presentations as exhibits and clarify that such materials are furnished rather than filed for certain securities law purposes.
Ownership and investor relationships
In a news release, CPI Card Group reported that Tricor Pacific Capital Inc., described as a family-owned investment firm, and the company’s chairman purchased shares of CPI common stock from a significant stockholder, Parallel49 Equity, ULC, in privately negotiated transactions. The release notes that Parallel49 originally invested in CPI in 2007 and retained ownership of a substantial portion of outstanding shares following CPI’s initial public offering in 2015. The transaction also involved granting share registration and director nomination rights to Tricor Pacific Capital, along with lock-up agreements restricting the sale or disposal of shares acquired in the transaction for a specified period.
Geographic footprint and facilities
CPI Card Group states that it serves clients through high-security production and card services facilities located in the United States. The company has also disclosed investments in a secure card production facility in Indiana, which it associates with increased capacity, capabilities, and efficiencies for its existing business. Through the Arroweye acquisition, CPI notes that Arroweye has its headquarters and a production facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Position within the payments ecosystem
Across its public statements, CPI Card Group presents itself as operating at the intersection of physical payment cards and digital payment experiences. The company highlights its work with financial institutions, prepaid program managers, fintechs, and technology partners to embed secure physical and digital card functionality into broader platforms. Its integration projects, such as the Card@Once and Nymbus collaboration, and its partnership with Karta, are described as ways to connect in-branch, online, and mobile payment experiences while addressing security and fraud concerns.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The following questions and answers summarize key points about CPI Card Group Inc. based on the company’s public disclosures and filings.