“Can a Canadian prepaid-card program manager reinvent itself as the single-API embedded finance utility for North American banks, governments and enterprises?”
Berkeley started in 2006 as a Canadian prepaid card program manager issuing Visa/Mastercard cards for corporate disbursements. After acquiring Pungle in 2019 it broadened into real-time payments and money movement. It has since repositioned as a unified white-label banking, card issuance and payouts platform ('one integration, the full stack') for banks, governments and enterprises across the US and Canada — competing directly with BaaS/issuer-processor peers like Marqeta, Galileo, and Highnote.
Berkeley Payments discloses Berkeley Payments (in-house) as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Berkeley Payments does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Berkeley Payments (in-house).
Berkeley Payments processes payments through Berkeley Payments (self-operated). Disclosed money-movement rails: ACH.
Berkeley Payments's cards are issued through Berkeley Payments (in-house) on the Visa and Mastercard networks.
Berkeley Payments uses Berkeley Payments (self-operated) for FX and cross-border payouts.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 6 layers in Berkeley Payments's stack: Payments / PSP (Berkeley Payments (self-operated)); Money movement (ACH); Banking / BaaS (Berkeley Payments (in-house)); Card issuing (Berkeley Payments (in-house)); Card network (Visa and Mastercard); FX & payouts (Berkeley Payments (self-operated)).
Berkeley Payments is founded in 2006 and headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
Berkeley Payments's acquisitions include Pungle (2019).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Berkeley Payments and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.