Transliteration of Non-ASCII Characters for Physical Cards
April 6, 2026
Physical Cards
Cardholder details with accented characters won't have fulfilment delays/issues with TAG
Programs issuing cards through TAG
None
Overview
Beginning Monday, April 6th for cards fulfilled with TAG, Lithic will transliterate non-ASCII characters to their ASCII equivalents in emboss fields (e.g. é → e, ñ → n), while preserving ASCII punctuation such as apostrophes and hyphens. This allows card records containing non-ASCII characters to be processed at the fulfillment house rather than rejecting.
Details
Card details including cardholder name, business name, bulk order shipping, and shipping address fields are now transliterated to ASCII before the issuance file is submitted to TAG for fulfilment. Non-ASCII Latin characters are converted to their closest ASCII equivalents (e.g. José Ríos becomes JOSE RIOS on the card), while ASCII punctuation such as apostrophes, hyphens, and ampersands is preserved.
Release Timeline
Production availability: April 6, 2026
User Impact
This change requires no modifications to existing integrations. Card orders containing non-ASCII Latin characters in emboss fields will now process and fulfill successfully at TAG without any changes to how those orders are submitted.
Updated Documentation
For card issuance specifications, visit our API Guide.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us via the HELP link in your Lithic Dashboard.
The Lithic changelog has an RSS feed! To monitor for new update announcements, subscribe with your preferred RSS reader.