Banks that work directly with payment systems are called Principal Members.).
Banks that operate bank cards with payment systems through Principal Member are called Associate Member in VISA and Affiliate Member in MasterCard. In other words, a bank that has the status of a Principal Member of the VISA and MasterCard international payment systems acts as a sponsor bank for another bank (an affiliated member) when the latter joins the IPU. The sponsor bank provides affiliated banks with the opportunity to work with several payment systems at once, including international ones. The advantage of such interaction is the use of only one protocol between the sponsor bank and the affiliated bank instead of a dozen possible ones. The sponsor bank also conducts claims work instead of the partner bank. In such interaction, the terms of financial cooperation and the technological capabilities of the sponsor bank become important for the affiliated bank. When choosing a sponsor bank, pay attention to its stability and uptime, the existing acquiring network, the functionality and services provided to customers. Important factors are the political situation and the participation of the management of the sponsor bank in it.
