Highnote Expands Its Unified Product Platform with Instant Payments

New solution leveraging Visa Direct and Mastercard Move delivers near real-time payouts¹ from Highnote-issued cards to external debit and prepaid cards, addressing the growing need for faster, more flexible disbursements

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Highnote, the unified platform for embedded finance and modern card issuance, today announced the launch of Instant Payments, a new capability that enables businesses to deliver near real-time payouts from Highnote-issued cards to eligible external debit and prepaid cards. The solution is supported by Mastercard Move (Mastercard’s portfolio of money transfer solutions) and Visa Direct, and is now available to all Highnote subscribers in the U.S.

Developed in direct response to evolving customer needs, Instant Payments reflects Highnote’s commitment to anticipating and delivering the tools modern businesses require to scale. While many platforms are still stitching together legacy infrastructure, Highnote has embedded this capability directly into its unified product platform, empowering subscribers with seamless, intelligent money movement from day one.

With Instant Payments, businesses can push funds to debit and prepaid cards in the U.S., giving recipients faster access to their earnings while improving liquidity and payout operations. Use cases include gig worker payouts, employee tips, insurance reimbursements, merchant settlements, refunds, and more.

“Instant Payments reflects both where our subscribers are today and where the market is headed,” said Kin Kee, CTO of Highnote. “By embedding on-demand disbursements directly into our issuing stack, we are helping businesses move money faster and more intelligently, all within a single, unified product experience.”

Unlike providers that offer push-to-card services as standalone point solutions, Highnote delivers Instant Payments as part of a fully integrated platform that includes issuing, acquiring, credit, and a built-in general ledger. This unified foundation enables businesses to manage the full payment lifecycle, from funding to disbursement and reconciliation, through a single, flexible integration.

“At Visa, we're committed to providing seamless and secure money movement capabilities that help businesses and their customers access their funds in real-time,” said Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, SVP, Money Movement North America, Visa. “By enabling real-time funds transfers through Highnote’s platform, we’re helping businesses leverage Visa’s scale and robust security infrastructure to deliver faster and more reliable payouts.”

“Collaborating across the ecosystem is essential to ensure businesses can securely access critical funds in near real-time to keep their operations up and running,” said Stefany Bello, SVP, Digital Partnerships, Fintech & Enablers, Mastercard, North America. “This marks an exciting new chapter in Mastercard’s longstanding relationship with Highnote—one filled with opportunity to enable the seamless movement of money across key verticals and segments.”

Instant Payments is the first release in Highnote’s larger effort to unify outbound money movement through a single, programmable framework. Additional capabilities include support for ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow, wallet-based transfers, stablecoin funding, and other emerging rails—all accessible through one API, with intelligent routing based on speed, cost, and destination.

To learn more about Instant Payments, contact the Highnote team or visit www.highnote.com.

About Highnote

Highnote is the unified platform for embedded finance, built for modern card issuance, acquiring, credit, and real-time money movement. Designed from the ground up, Highnote combines elegantly intelligent architecture with powerful developer tooling to deliver seamless, branded financial experiences. With built-in ledgering, integrated payment capabilities, and complete program management, Highnote empowers fintechs, vertical SaaS providers, and enterprises to launch differentiated embedded payments experiences that stand out in any market. Headquartered in San Francisco, Highnote is redefining the standard for modern financial products. Visit highnote.com for more information.

About Mastercard

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re building a resilient economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, similar, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.
www.mastercard.com

About Visa

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.

¹ Transaction approvals depend on the applicable payment network and receiving financial network. Actual posting times depend on the receiving financial institution.