Card funding describes how the money behind a payment card gets there. A credit card draws on a line of credit and a debit card on a bank account, so the term matters mainly for a prepaid card and for card programmes run by fintech companies. A prepaid card must be loaded before use: by bank transfer, cash at a shop, direct deposit of wages, another card, or the sponsoring company, as with payroll and expense cards.
At programme level, the company running the cards keeps money with the issuing bank to cover spending and daily network settlement. In a pre-funded account model, each card or a shared pool holds a balance in advance. With just-in-time funding, cards carry no balance and funds are moved at the moment each purchase is authorized. In card acceptance, "funding type" also means whether a card is credit, debit or prepaid, which is identified from its bank identification number.