Pomelo expands payment infrastructure to more than 150 countries with a global card

Pomelo has launched a global card that lets fintechs, banks, and other companies issue cards internationally through a single integration. For high-risk operators and their PSPs, the interesting part is not the slogan; it is the structure: one setup for local issuance in Latin America and global issuance in the same stack, plus settlement in real time in dollars or stablecoins.

1. Pomelo says the global card is already live and supports issuance to users in more than 150 countries. The company positions it as a single infrastructure layer for local issuance in Latin America and global issuance, instead of the usual country-by-country buildout.
2. The product is aimed at companies that want to test demand before committing to local entities, licenses, local vendors, and market-specific operations. In practice, that matters because card programs usually get slowed down by exactly those steps: corporate setup, regulatory approvals, bank relationships, and local execution.
3. The global offering includes virtual Mastercard and Visa cards, compatibility with Apple Pay and Google Pay, production and worldwide distribution of physical cards, and real-time settlement in dollars or stablecoins. That last part is the detail high-risk teams will notice, because settlement currency and speed tend to matter as much as issuer coverage.
4. Pomelo says it works with clients across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, including Western Union, BBVA, Santander, Coppel, Kavak, Didi, Binance, ARQ, Astropay, and PayJoy. For PSPs, that client mix is the real signal: the platform is being used by both financial institutions and businesses with more complex risk profiles.
5. CEO & Co-Founder Gastón Irigoyen said Latin America operates on multiple payment rails — cards, transfers, and now stablecoins — and that Pomelo’s approach is to combine them through one integration, while staying aligned with each country’s regulation. Head of Global Card Alfonso Torreguitar said the global card reduces the need to build infrastructure, operations, and financial relationships in each new market.

Pomelo is describing a model that matters to cross-border card programs: centralize the stack, keep the local option where needed, and avoid rebuilding the whole machine every time you enter a new country. For high-risk merchants and PSPs, that can change how quickly a program can move from pilot to multi-market rollout.