Vault Documentation

Card Art

Overview

Issuer card art involves displaying customized images or logos on payment cards issued by financial institutions like banks or credit card companies, offering a unique appearance to these cards. This feature is prominently showcased during the checkout process for both online and in-store purchases. Compliance with network branding requirements is essential for merchants when displaying issuer card art or network logos, particularly when customers save their credentials with a merchant. Card art is made available only when Network token is created.

Benefits of Card Art

Displaying issuer card art during checkout strengthens brand recognition and customer engagement. Financial institutions can reinforce their identity by showcasing their logos or branded images, building a stronger connection with their customers. This also fosters trust, as customers can easily recognize their card issuer during payment. Furthermore, issuer card art enhances the checkout experience, creating a visually appealing and seamless process that encourages customer loyalty.

Card Art Integration

The card art feature can be enabled or disabled at the account level. When a network token is provisioned, upon card creation, the associated card art will be fetched and stored. A network token provisioned successful notification will be sent after the network token is provisioned.

To retrieve card art, use the "Get Card by ID API", which returns the latest metadata returned by the network available from the network, including card art if available, post-notification. Customers can then download the card art image directly via the provided asset URL without requiring a barrier authorization token.

Card art URL expires in 6hrs. If the card art download URL expires, regenerate it by calling the "Get Card by ID" again.

You can view a sample GET card response here: VGS Card Management API – Get a Card.

Downloading Card Art

Card art can be downloaded using a simple HTTP GET request. The image URL is provided in the network_token object of the GET Card by ID API response, under the meta.card_art section. This is a secure, pre-signed URL hosted on an AWS-managed service. It is valid for a limited time and can be accessed from any platform—web, mobile, or backend service.

You can download the image using any standard HTTP client (e.g., curl, Postman, browser, etc.).

Example:

curl "https://assets.calm.live.verygoodsecurity.com/live/calm/assets/9018116a-e0b7-4e5b-8227-d33615632856?Expires=1752083981&Signature=bJ-Lx89Vaqfadbx4-AhXoS~Q648Kl3oS6MGiKVUsIkAEdIV6x93uY24tdcxLT5IlLVMoOb3oJkTEwUtakpuDF2ZnA72Iy37bw-x86DWg4cOH-EZWEtERFbB~AFISArH62kxIgItR-CjSByuGxNFl~q-7X2Xo-xDG4D4LewUhNRiLy2zxUmHk5L5qFegJRRFOsz8NyUaGmf8BU8TDuUnyqNGu-G8FzahJ1QQSAS3UVqUlwiMuNZDOC~ySrZQrZ65Ij8QzAPeyLzTj2FhOXU66P6wFIoLCes~qDz~Z5lFZRjRbxrpRNhueKHjCU6vmwRKZ6mZV-qloHz0D8tszs5kN8w__&Key-Pair-Id=K14FU0X3LR21JX"

There is no difference in behavior whether the URL is accessed from a mobile device or a web browser. The download is fully platform-agnostic, as the service does not depend on the origin of the request.

Card Art Sequence

  • Provisioning & Card Art Request

    • Customer

      • Calls Create Card or triggers Provision Network Token using the CMP API.

    • VGS

      • Initiates Network Token Provisioning with the Card Network.

        • Receives the Network Token from the Card Network.

        • Automatically fetches the associated Card Art for the token.

        • Receives the Card Art data.

        • Stores both the Token and Card Art securely.

        • Sends a "Network Token Successfully Provisioned" notification back to the customer.

  • Downloading Card Art (Customer-driven)

    • Customer:

    • VGS

      • Returns card metadata, including a pre-signed download_url to retrieve the card art image.

    • Customer:

      • Uses the download_url to download the card art image.

Note:

  • The download_url remains valid for 6 hours. After it expires, any access attempts will return a 404 error.

  • If the URL expires, you must repeat the GET /cards/{card-id} call to obtain a new one.

  • The card art metadata fields returned in the response may vary, as they depend on both the issuer and the network. Not all fields are guaranteed to be present.

Merchant Expectations and Responsibilities

As part of the tokenization process, networks send the issuer’s card art (if provided by the issuer) during the token provisioning flow. This card art may be shown in cardholder-facing PAN display interactions. Merchants should not rely on the VGS-hosted card art URL for real-time display. The URL is time-bound and intended for temporary access only. Instead, merchants are expected to download and store the image locally within their own systems for use in their front-end or checkout experiences. If the actual card art images are unavailable, the card can be rendered using the color scheme provided by networks on behalf of the issuer. If the images cannot be rendered during the payment flow (e.g., on monochrome devices), or if the form-factor display is too small to render all the elements (e.g., smartwatches), either the Visa brand or a generic Visa-branded card must be displayed next to the last four digits of the card number. During the payment process, the merchant may include text to let the cardholder know that the PAN is being converted to a digital account number.

Best Practices for Image Rendering

  • The digital card art images that Visa provides to the token requester do not include the cardholder's name, PAN, or expiration date, either in generic form or using actual values.

  • The digital card art images will not include rounded corners; the corners will need to be rounded on the display.

  • The token requestor should round the corners of digital card art with a radius of 2.88–3.48 mm.

  • The last four digits of the card number or digital account number and cardholder name should be placed in the bottom left corner of the digital card art (if used).

  • No images or text, other than the last four digits of the card number or digital account number and/or cardholder name, may be placed over the card art.

  • The last four digits of the Visa card number and the digital account number must always be preceded by “Visa” (i.e., Visa 9876).

  • A generic card image should be rendered in the absence of an actual card image.

  • These should be used if and only if the card images cannot be rendered due to technical reasons.

  • Token requestors should be able to support PNG images for the card art.

Other Visa Branding Requirements

  • "Visa" should always be spelled with an initial capital ‘V’ and not in all caps.

  • Either the Visa Brand Mark or the Visa name in text may be used.

  • The approved Visa Brand Mark is available from your Visa representative.

  • Text must be provided along with the term “digital account number” to explain its role and relevance to the cardholder (if applicable).

Card Art Ownership Disclaimer

This card art is provided to the token requestor, subject to certain issuer brand guidelines and other use restrictions set forth in the token requestor’s agreement with networks.

VGS passes down the card art from the network as is; issuer may choose to decide what card art is given for the token requestor.

Customers are required to adhere to the branding guidelines of the respective card networks (e.g., Visa and Mastercard) when displaying card art for facilitating digital payments.

Onboarding Requirements

To receive and download card art assets, the following conditions must be met:

  • Network Tokenization must be enabled for the account.

  • Card Art must be enabled at the account level.

Reference:

Visa Branding Guidelines

Mastercard Branding Guidelines

PreviousNetwork TokensNextCard Account Updater

Last updated