The Issuing Bank is the financial institution which issues individuals with credit cards or debit cards and extends short-term lines of credit to purchase goods and services. Familiar issues include Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank and The issuer settles card transactions for the purchaser or card holder whereas its counterpart the acquiring bank or merchant acquirer, is the bank that is responsible for settling credit and debit card transactions on behalf of the merchant. Issuers generally manage the credit and debit card programs on behalf of the card networks, such as Visa and Mastercard, and for their role in the card payment process, receive the majority of the interchange and other fees in a credit card and debit card transaction. Discover and American Express are both issuers and card networks.
