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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Marqeta launched a new credit card issuing platform to help brands offer embedded credit programs.
Using the new tool, fintechs and non-financial services companies can launch both consumer and commercial credit programs.
Marqeta’s new card program will allow brands to own the entire customer experience without having to send the customer to a bank website to access card information.
Card issuer Marqetaunveiled its new credit card issuing platform today. The new offering serves as a one-stop shop to help companies launch embedded card programs for both consumer and commercial users.
Marqeta’s new credit platform helps brands promote customer loyalty by enabling personalized rewards and can support any card type and any format. According to Marqeta CEO Simon Khalaf, the new platform will help brands “reimagine what a credit card can be” and engage with consumers “in a whole new way.”
As part of that reimagining, Marqeta’s new platform serves as a single location where fintechs and non-financial services companies can build a credit product that suits their consumers’ unique needs and embed the experiences within their existing app. Specifically, brands can own the entire customer experience and won’t need to send cardholders to a bank’s website to access card information.
The credit platform also provides a rewards engine that helps brands build reward programs that adapt to cardholder needs and preference. Additionally, Marqeta offers brands access to real-time customer data to help further customize cardholder products and– for commercial cardholders– provides a range of flexible funding models such as Net 30 Charge Cards, Receivables Purchase, and Revolving Credit.
“The possibility is huge,” Khalaf added, “but the incumbent solutions are simply not giving consumers what they need. We want our credit card platform to completely change the consumer experience and the brand loyalty equation.”
Today’s development comes courtesy of Marqeta’s January 2023 acquisition of Power Finance for $275 million. Power Finance was founded in 2021 to offer brands a credit card program management service. Power Finance’s platform allowed companies to outsource credit card management, customer experience, application decisioning, transaction processing, and more.
Founded in 2010, Marqeta enables clients to manage their own card programs and banking tools. The company offers configurable and flexible payment tools and customizes payment cards for their end customers. Marqeta is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker MQ. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion.
Standard Chartered has teamed up with Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) to launch the fifth cohort of Women in Tech accelerator program. The program is designed to empower female entrepreneurs in the UAE’s technology sector, and encourage innovation, diversity, and economic development. Participants in the program receive training, workshops, mentorship, and access to seed capital. Applications to join the accelerator can be submitted up until the end of July. Ten startups will be chosen to participate. The program ends with a demo day in October, giving each of the startups the opportunity to present their business model to a panel of industry thought leaders and experts, as well as potential investors. The top three startups in the program will be awarded a total of $100,000 in non-equity seed capital.
“By joining forces with DIFC Innovation Hub, we are also taking significant strides toward building a more inclusive and thriving tech ecosystem that supports women-led startups and harnesses the diverse talents and perspectives of women, ultimately shaping a brighter future for all,” Standard Chartered UAE CEO Rola Abu Manneh said.
Eligible companies must have a gender-diverse team. This includes a minimum of one female co-founder. Companies must demonstrate an innovative and scalable solution, as well as the technology’s sustainable impact. The program is for UAE-based startups only.
CFI Financial Group has partnered with Finovate Best of Show winner Capitalise.ai to bring AI-enabled, automated trading to clients in the Middle East. Capitalise.ai leverages code-free automation to enable traders and investors to implement their trading strategies more accurately and reduce human error. Capitalise.ai’s platform enables traders to plan trades in advance as well as take advantage of preset trading strategies. The platform then automatically executes trading decisions based on parameters decided in advance by the trader. This helps ensure that the trades taken are both timely and accurate.
In addition to executing trades, the Capitalise.ai platform also monitors the market for potential trading opportunities based on pre-set parameters. The platform notifies users when specific market conditions line up with their trading strategies, alerting them to potential opportunities in the market.
Capitalise.ai co-founders Shahar Rabin (Chief Product Officer) and Amir Shiovich (Chief Executive Officer) at FinovateSpring 2017.
“We are excited to introduce Capitalise.ai as a game-changer in the MENA trading landscape,” CFI Financial Group co-founder and MD Hisham Mansour said. “By offering this code-free AI trading technology, we are empowering our clients with the ability to automate their trading strategies effortlessly.”
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, Capitalise.ai demoed its trading automation technology at FinovateSpring 2017, winning Best of Show. In the years since then, Capitalise.ai has forged partnerships with crypto spot and regulated futures market ErisX, accounting software company Clear Books, U.S. spot FX trading platform Forex.com, and CFD/Forex broker AvaTrade. Capitalise.ai has raised $10 million in funding, and includes Poalim Equity and Binance among its investors. Amir Shiovich is co-founder and CEO.
Egyptian cashless payments app Flash secured $6 million in seed funding. The round was led by Addition, and featured participation from Flourish Ventures as well as other angel investors. The company will use the capital to accelerate product development, as well as customer and business acquisition in Egypt. Additionally, Flash has secured approval from the Central Bank of Egypt – in partnership with Banque Misr – to serve as a technical payment aggregator.
Flash gives consumers and businesses a cashless payment option via a scan-and-pay service. By adding their existing bank card or digital wallet to the Flash app, consumers can make purchases using their phones simply by scanning the QR code provided by the business. Flash enables businesses to accept payments from consumers directly without requiring point-of-sale (POS) systems or complex technical integrations.
Uber alumni Erik Gordon and Sherine Kabesh founded Flash in 2021. “Our mobile application removes transactional challenges for businesses looking for an easier solution than the POS,” Gordon said. “Our goal is to make payments easier, safer, and faster for everyone. We are also excited to be releasing new features to help consumers make better spending decisions.”
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Asia-Pacific
Stag, a financial education-related startup based in Vietnam, raised $600,000 in seed funding from Viet Capital Ventures, NH Securities Vietnam, and Singapore-based Resolution Ventures.
Hong Kong-based fintech Eddid Financial signed an agreement with Malaysian fintech MPAY establishing a joint venture to boost fintech expansion in Malaysia.
South Korean fintech U Fintech Hub secured $4 million in funding in a round led by Forest Partners.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Ten Southern African fintech startups received grant funding from the World Bank as part of the Fintech Challenge initiative of the Southern Africa Innovation Bridge Portal.
African paytech Flutterwave launched a new payment solution, Tuition, to enable users to pay for educational fees using local currencies.
Global Brands Magazine recognizes Access Bank Mozambique as “Best Banking Brand” based on customer service, satisfaction, and digital innovation.
International remittance company Viamericas Corporation launched new program with Guatemala-based financial organization Banco GyT to promote financial inclusion for people with severe disabilities.
As the going gets tough for crypto, will the underlying blockchain technology get going?
That was one of the top takeaways from the conversation on cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and the blockchain at FinovateEurope in London last week. We may be in a crypto winter – if not, as author Steven Van Belleghem quipped during his keynote address, a crypto “ice age.” But while the sun may be setting on the initial promise of cryptocurrencies, a dawn of new use cases and novel user interfaces may arrive sooner than we think.
To that end, it is interesting that much of this week’s crypto news revolves around stablecoins and ways that innovative banks and fintechs are using the technology to better serve customers.
Xapo Bank partners with Circle to leverage USDC as Swift alternative
One example of this trend comes in the news that Xapo Bank has teamed up with Circle to become the first licensed bank to integrate USDC payment rails as an alternative to SWIFT. The partnership will enable the Bitcoin custodian and private bank to offer its members the ability to make deposits and withdrawals via the USDC stablecoin without having to pay any fees to Xapo Bank. The institution is offering a 1:1 conversion rate from USDC to USD, further helping its customers avoid both the time and cost of SWIFT-based payments.
“Xapo Bank’s USDC payment rails mark a watershed moment in financial history, combining the speed and cost efficiency of the digital dollar, with the security guarantees of a licensed private bank,” Xapo Bank CEO Seamus Rocca said. “Enabling auto converted USDC deposits and withdrawals at Xapo Bank gives crypto members a safe haven for their savings.”
USD deposits are guaranteed up to $100,000 courtesy of Xapo Bank’s membership in the Gibraltar Deposit Guarantee Scheme (GDGS). The bank noted that all USDC deposits are automatically converted to USD, giving members a 4.1% annual interest rate return on deposits.
Stables issues USDC-to-fiat Mastercard powered by Marqeta
A new partnership between card issuing platform Marqeta and Stables, a stablecoin-based digital wallet formerly known as Tiiik, will enable Stables customers to convert stablecoins into fiat currency and spend wherever Mastercards are accepted, online or in-store. Stables will leverage Marqeta’s dynamic spend controls and Just-in-Time funding capabilities to give its customers broader ability to transact with their stored stablecoins.
“Stables is committed to expanding what’s possible with stablecoins, giving people more flexibility and choice in their payment habits,” Stables co-founder and CEO Erez Rachamim said. “With increasing demand for digital assets, we’re thrilled to work with Marqeta to develop a card that enables more seamless spending on everyday items.”
Headquartered in Sydney, Australia and founded in 2021, Stables rebranded from tiiik at the beginning of this year. In a statement at the company blog, co-founder Bernardo Bilotta wrote, “This update better encapsulates what we can plan to offer to our loyal community. It highlights our dedication to expanding our focus to solve stablecoin related payment problems and any new use cases/services built around stablecoins.”
Circle supports USDC; sets up European HQ in France
We mentioned Circle earlier with regard to Xapo Bank’s new payments offering. Circle also made crypto headlines for its decision to set up its European headquarters in what it referred to as the “crypto-friendly climate” of France. The company, founded in 2013 and maintaining a U.S.-based headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, has applied to French regulators to become both a licensed Electronic Money Institution (EMI) and a fully registered Digital Assets Service Provider (DASP). Securing these approvals would make Circle the first company to receive full authorization under the DASP regulatory regime.
“France’s comprehensive efforts towards innovation-forward crypto regulation are commendable and closely align with Circle’s vision for the future of the digital payments sector,” Circle CEO and co-founder Jeremy Allaire said. “The DASP registration provides an initial path to support sensible digital asset innovation.”
Circle is the issuer of the USDC stablecoin. The company has come under pressure in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank crisis as its relationship with another troubled bank, Signature Bank, limited its ability to process minting and redemption of USDC. A de-pegging of USDC, in which the stablecoin lost its one-to-one relationship to the U.S. dollar resulting in investors cashing out of the digital asset by more than $2.6 billion in 24 hours, only added to the company’s woes of late.
Centi launches Swiss franc stablecoin
Swiss fintech Centi, which was founded in 2020, has announced the launch of its Swiss Franc pegged stablecoin. The stablecoin is backed 1:1 by a Swiss bank, and will serve as the foundation for the company’s Global Payment Network. The new offering will enable merchants to get direct payment settlement in their bank accounts in the fiat currency of their choice. Merchants will not need to make any changes to their current accounting processes nor do they need to have extensive cryptocurrency knowledge. Centi noted that its stablecoin will help bring buying power to both buyers and sellers by eliminating the fees and costs charged by credit card companies.
Centi’s Global Payment Network leverages a low-cost transaction model based on a micropayments facilitation foundation. This enables the network to offer the advantages of both cash and electronic payments, as well as seamless integration with online, POS, and cashier payment systems. By leveraging blockchain technology, the network is able to offer fees that are as much as 90% less expensive compared to competing payment services.
“With Centi we have created a new payments universe,” Centi CEO and founder Bernhard Müller said. “Our technology uses the efficiency of the blockchain to lower payment processing fees without requiring users to understand anything about crypto. Our payments solution is a first use case implementation of this technology with many others expected to follow it.”
LiquidStack raises capital to help lower carbon footprint of bitcoin mining
One of the earliest antagonists to the bitcoin and cryptocurrency movement were environmental activists who decried the impact of bitcoin mining on the environment.
This week we learned that LiquidStack, a Massachusetts-based immersion cooling company, has secured Series B funding to build a manufacturing facility in the U.S. Moreover, the firm says that is has a solution, at least in part, to bitcoin mining’s carbon footprint problem. The company boasts the largest install base of liquid cooling for data centers around the world, and has been proven to meet the thermal challenges of cloud, high performance computing, and crypto-mining applications.
The Series B investment came from Trane Technologies, and the amount of the funding was not disclosed. LiquidStack said that it will use the capital to accelerate manufacturing, including the opening of a facility in the United States. LiquidStack CEO Joe Capes noted that the investment from Trane Technologies comes “at a time when demand for sustainable liquid cooling technology has never been greater.”
LiquidStack’s two-phase immersion cooling process reduces data center direct and indirect carbon footprint by more than 1,500 tons per megawatt compared to air cooling. The company’s technology can also be used to reduce the amount of water used to power and cool data centers by more than 300 billion liters per year.
Marqeta is acquiring credit card program management platform Power Finance.
The company will add Power Finance’s credit card program management capabilities to its own card issuing platform.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Global card issuer Marqeta agreed to acquire credit card program management platform Power Finance. Terms of the deal, which is scheduled to close in the first quarter of this year, were not disclosed.
Power Finance was founded in 2021 by CEO Randy Fernando and CFO Andrew Dust to offer credit card program management services to companies seeking to create new credit card programs. The company’s platform takes care of credit card management, customer experience, application decisioning, transaction processing, and more. And because Power Finance is pre-integrated with third-party data vendors, it saves companies time when setting up KYC and underwriting processes.
“Companies like ours were made possible because of the path Marqeta blazed in modern card issuing, demonstrating the possibilities in payments with flexible and modern payment infrastructure,” said Fernando. “At Power, we built a full-stack, cloud-native credit card issuance platform, and by becoming a part of Marqeta we have the ability now to bring this innovation to a much larger market at global scale.”
Once the deal is finalized, Fernando will lead the product management of the Marqeta credit card platform.
Marqeta will leverage the acquisition by adding Power Finance’s credit card program management capabilities to its own card issuing platform. “It will allow us to accelerate processing revenue derived from credit programs, and improve our competitive positioning when competing for new deals, offering our customers a holistic credit card program management solution,” Marqeta said in a blog post announcement.
Marqeta launched its card issuing platform in 2010 to enable clients to manage their own card programs. The company offers configurable and flexible payment tools and customizes payment cards for their end customers. Earlier this month, Marqeta launched a Web Push Provisioning Solution to enable consumers to transact from their mobile wallets without having to download a separate mobile app.
Marqeta is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker MQ. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion.
Card issuing platform Marqeta launched its new web push provisioning solution.
The new offering will enable consumers to pay for products directly from their mobile wallets without having to first download a mobile app – that may be rarely used again.
The web push provisioning solution was inspired in part during Marqeta’s Hack Week event back in October 2021.
Modern card issuing platform Marqetalaunched its new web push provisioning product this week. The new offering will reduce friction at the point-of-sale by enabling users to pay for purchases directly from their mobile wallets without having to download a mobile app first.
The new web push provisioning product is designed to address a major pain point for consumers: having to download an app – that may be rarely, if ever, used again – in order to complete a given transaction. Marqeta’s solution can help boost conversion rates by eliminating this requirement and thus streamlining the customer experience. Combined with Marqeta’s instant issuance capabilities, this week’s announcement reinforces and adds to the company’s leadership in the payment card tokenization space.
“Growing familiarity with digital wallets created demand for a solution that enables Marqeta customers to quickly and easily provision virtual cards and digital wallet tokens from the web for use with both Apple Pay and Google Pay,” Marqeta Chief Product Officer Simon Khalaf explained. “Our web push provisioning product meets that need and helps enable our customers to deliver a streamlined checkout experience to their end users.”
Marqeta’s offering comes as consumer adoption of digital wallets continues to show strength. According to Juniper Research, global digital wallet transactions are expected to grow 60% by 2026. Additionally, 71% of U.S. consumers in 2022 say that they have used a mobile wallet in the previous 12 months compared to 64% in 2020. Nevertheless, 75% of consumers admit to having abandoned a transaction after being prompted to download a mobile app in order to complete the purchase.
Marqeta’s web push provisioning solution, currently in beta and expected to be generally available later this year, was specifically designed to address this problem. The technology has its origins in a Hack Week event from last year, as members of Marqeta’s team realized the value of enabling brands to provision tokens from a mobile web browser. Built in partnership with both Apple and Google, the web push provisioning technology has been deployed by Bread Financial, which praised the way the product enabled the company to “offer flexible payment options that will keep the merchant’s brand at the forefront a deliver a better experience for the customer,” according to Bread Financial EVP and Chief Commercial Officer Val Greer.
An alumni of Finovate’s developer conference, FinDEVr SiliconValley 2016, Marqeta today is certified to operate in 40 countries around the world. Last fall, the company announced the launch of its Marqeta for Banking offering, which brought new banking capabilities to the company’s card issuing platform. Marqeta has forged partnerships in recent months with Raiffeisen Centrobank to power the institution’s new digital banking brand for customers in Poland and Romania – and with Blockchain.com, to power the cryptocurrency platform’s crypto-based Visa Card.
Headquartered in Oakland, California, Marqeta was founded in 2010. The firm is a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ under the ticker MQ, and has a market capitalization of $3.4 billion. Jason Gardner is CEO.
Card issuance company Marqeta is launching a suite of banking products for its clients to offer their end customers.
Marqeta for Banking is comprised of seven banking products made available through Marqeta’s banking partners.
The new tools include Demand Deposit Accounts, Direct Deposit with Early Pay, ACH with Plaid Integration, Cash Loads, and Fee-Free ATMs, which are now available to Marqeta’s U.S. customers. Bill Pay and Instant Funding will be available in beta early next year.
Marqetaannounced today that it is expanding further into the banking world beyond card issuance. The California-based company unveiled a suite of seven banking products through what it’s calling Marqeta for Banking.
Marqeta for Banking offers the company’s businesses customers access to more than 40 banking APIs that enable them to create customized banking services. The capabilities are made available through Marqeta’s banking partners and include Demand Deposit Accounts, Direct Deposit with Early Pay, ACH with Plaid Integration, Cash Loads, Fee-Free ATMs, Bill Pay, and Instant Funding capabilities.
“Consumers increasingly expect their financial services to be digital-first and mobile friendly, delivered by a brand they trust,” said Marqeta Founder and CEO Jason Gardner. “This is especially true for a rising generation of consumers who are less likely to have visited a physical bank branch or use a plastic card, and will instead begin their banking relationship on a mobile phone, which is doubling as a payment tool. Marqeta for Banking is fully designed to help customers meet the needs of today’s changing behaviors while building products for tomorrow’s consumer.”
Marqeta for Banking includes:
Demand Deposit Accounts are tied to a debit card and are offered by an FDIC-insured institution. These accounts offer higher spend limits and no maximum balances.
Direct Deposit and Early Pay is an earned wage access tool that enables users to receive their paycheck up to two days early.
ACH with Plaid integration enables ACH payments between bank accounts.
Cash Loads allow end users to deposit cash into their account at more than 180,000 retail locations. The deposited funds are available immediately in the user’s account.
Fee-Free ATMs enable Marqeta customers to provide access to fee-free ATMs via the Allpoint and MoneyPass networks.
Bill Pay will enable end users to pay their bills from within the app.
Instant Funding will enable end users to instantly fund their accounts using an external debit or prepaid card.
All but the last two products in the Marqeta for Banking suite are available in the U.S. The beta versions of Bill Pay and Instant Funding will launch early next year. A handful of customers are already leveraging elements of Marqeta for Banking, including Coinbase, Branch, and Fold.
Marqeta’s card issuing platform enables its clients to manage their own card programs by creating configurable and flexible payment tools as well as customizing payment cards for their end customers. The company was founded in 2010 and is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker MQ. Marqeta has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion.
Uber is launching a new debit card with tandem checking account.
The Uber Pro debit card is made available via partnerships with Mastercard, Marqeta, and Branch.
Uber Pro cardholders can receive up to 7% cashback on fuel purchases.
Uber’s latest attempt to attract more drivers to its platform comes in the form of a debit card with a tandem checking account. Late last week, the rideshare company announced the Uber Pro debit card.
The new debit card comes courtesy of partnerships with Mastercard, Marqeta, and Branch, a workforce payments platform that caters to gig economy workers and contractors. The card offers Uber drivers up to 7% cash back on gas purchases when they achieve Diamond status as an Uber Pro driver.
The Uber Pro card comes with a checking account powered by Branch, which will automatically deposit cardholders’ earnings into their account after every trip. Branch offers a unique take on earned wage access by enabling workers to access their paycheck as they earn it. The card currently has a wait list and will launch in the coming weeks.
This latest announcement comes three years after Uber originally introducedUber Money, a debit card and mobile app powered by Green Dot, and five years after the company launched its Barclays-powered credit card.
The launch of the Uber Pro card comes alongside a handful of other driver-related announcements from the ridesharing company. The Uber app will now offer drivers a range of nearby trips to choose from, show drivers their exact earnings upfront before they accept a trip, and offer enhanced benefits to Uber Pro drivers.
These driver-focused benefits are in part an effort to smooth out the supply and demand issue that Uber is facing. The nationwide labor shortage, combined with high fuel prices, has historically made it difficult for Uber to attract drivers. In May, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, “Our need to increase the number of drivers on the platform is nothing new nor is it a surprise … there’s a lot of work ahead of us, but this is a machine that is rolling.”
Western Union has tapped Marqeta to enable clients in Europe to send remittances to a physical or virtual Visa card.
Marqeta’s open API will allow Western Union to replicate its payments card program to other geographies.
Thanks to Marqeta’s expertise, Western Union can now gradually add new features to its digital money transfer app.
Card issuance platform Marqeta has been busy lately and is adding to its to-do list, as well as its client base, today. The California-based company is partnering with money transfer company Western Union, which will integrate Marqeta’s payment cards solution into its digital wallet and digital banking platform in Europe.
The new relationship will enable Western Union to offer its remittance service online with the ability to disburse funds to either a physical or virtual Visa card. Ultimately, the addition of payment cards means that Western Union can now offer clients a more holistic experience.
Leveraging Marqeta’s scalable open API, Western Union can easily replicate its payments card program across international markets and will have access to real-time insights into customer card activity. “The Marqeta platform delivers all the functionality needed to support the goals of our new digital banking program, alongside the flexibility to enter new markets with ease and design new features that meet the needs of our customers,” explained Western Union Chief Data and Innovation Officer Tom Mazzaferro.
Founded in 2010, Marqeta offers a range of payments-related services, including direct deposit, ACH transfers, ATM withdrawals, and more. With today’s partnership, Western Union now has the ability to leverage this expertise by gradually adding new features to its digital money transfer app.
“We are thrilled to be working together on this exciting new venture for their European business,” said Marqeta Europe’s European Strategy Director Anna Porra. “At a time when customer expectations are rising, creating a data-driven solution that leverages modern card issuing technology, as well as the expertise of an ecosystem of global partners, is critical to help gain a share of wallet.”
Marqeta announced a collaboration with fellow Finovate alum Klarna to power the company’s new payment card.
The new card will enable Klarna customers to use the company’s Pay in 4 payment option in physical stores.
This week’s partnership builds upon a relationship the two companies have enjoyed since 2018.
A pair of Finovate alums have teamed up to offer a new transparent alternative to traditional credit cards.
Modern card issuing platform Marqeta reported this week that it is working with banking, payments, and ecommerce platform Klarnato power Klarna’s new payment card. The card will bring Klarna’s Pay in 4 service to a physical Visa card, and builds on a payment card partnership between the two companies that extends back to 2018. Marqeta currently enables the creation of one-time cards on Klarna’s app. The new Klarna Card will give customers the same control, convenience, and flexibility when shopping in physical stores that they currently enjoy when using Klarna’s Pay in 4 at the point of sale or via the Klarna app.
“Our U.S. customer base is growing rapidly and we’ve seen tremendous demand for our new Klarna Card offering,” Klarna Chief Commercial Officer David Sykes said. “By expanding our partnership with Marqeta, we’re leveraging their payments expertise to provide our customers with an unmatched user experience that will ultimately help our business grow.”
This latest collaboration comes just months after the two companies expanded their partnership into 13 new European markets. Klarna will leverage Marqeta’s Just-in-Time Funding functionality to gain control over the full transaction flow, and use Marqeta’s technology and 300+ open APIs to deliver customizable experiences and support Klarna’s international expansion.
“Marqeta’s continued partnership with Klarna is a testament to all the payment experiences that our modern card issuing platform can enable,” said Marqeta CEO and founder Jason Gardner. “We’re proud to offer a flexible, scalable card platform that can meet the demands of such a rapidly-growing and innovative company like Klarna.
A Finovate alum since 2012, Klarna now has more than 147 total active customers – 25 million in the U.S. – is active in 45 countries and facilitates two million transactions a day. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, the company began the year with the launch of a physical payment card in the U.K. and, in March, announced the completion of its acquisition of comparison shopping service company PriceRunner. Sebastian Siemiatkowski is CEO.
Based in Oakland, California, Marqeta made its Finovate debut at our developers conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley, in 2016. In the years since, Marqeta has issued more than 500 million cards via its platform and processed more than $110 billion in volume in 2021. In addition to its partnership with Klarna, Marqeta also announced this week that it was joining Mastercard’s Network Enablement Partners Program in the Asia Pacific. The move will enhance Marqeta’s ability to offer its APAC customers a faster path to live issuance.
“As one of Mastercard’s first Network Enablement Partners to be onboarded in the Asia Pacific region, Marqeta is well-equipped to deliver card issuances in record time, and to help their fintech customers scale at speed across multiple geographies,” Mastercard SVP of Digital Customer Solutions APAC Ben Gilbey said.
Modern card issuing platform Marqeta has come a long way since its Finovate debut in 2016. Back then, Marqeta was a six-year-old company, presenting the world’s first fully-documented, open API issuer processor platform, and emphasizing the company’s commitment to producing payments solutions that were “developer-friendly.” In fact, it was at Finovate’s developer conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley in 2016 that Marqeta led a presentation “Democratizing Issuer Payment Processing with Just-In-Time (JIT) Funding.”
In the years since then, the Oakland, California-based fintech has forged partnerships with fellow Finovate alum Token (2017); with CashFlows, Visa, and Mambu (2019), with Mastercard, Afterpay, and Uber (2020) and, last year, with companies including Bill.com, Coinbase, and Square. The company also has raised more than $530 million in funding, and launched as a public company a year ago, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker MQ.
Most recently, Marqeta returned to the fintech headlines with news of its partnership with Alviere. An embedded finance platform, Alviere is currently in the process of expanding across Europe, where it plans to operate as an Electronic Money Institution and Principal Member Card Issuer in the region. By partnering with Marqeta, Alviere will be able to issue branded cards to customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the U.K.
“Access to financial services is continuing to evolve, and consumers are constantly opening up to new ways of moving, storing, spending and saving money,” Alviere co-founder and CEO Yuval Brisker said. “For brands in Europe, and around the world, providing financial services means uncovering vast untapped opportunities. Embedding financial products under their existing business, products, and to their existing customer base, has quickly emerged as an important strategy for growth and customer retention.”
Marqeta’s platform supports issuance of both physical and virtual payment cards, as well as tokenization, card management, and fulfillment. Processing and settlement are also included, along with authentication and 3DS (3-D secure authentication), just-in-time (JIT) funding, and dynamic spend controls. Marqeta’s reliance on open APIs and webhooks enables institutions to create customizable card experiences, and seamless interaction with other applications, while providing visibility and transparency via notifications and card monitoring.
Alviere hopes to take advantage of what Simon Torrance forecasts to be a $7.2 trillion global opportunity in embedded finance by 2030. To empower non-financial brands with the ability to offer financial products and solutions to their customers, Alviere offers a suite of solutions including branded bank accounts and cards, global payments, payment processing, as well as crypto wallets and exchanges. The New York-based company’s partnership news with Marqeta arrives in the wake of Alviere receiving an investment of $70 million and the appointment of its first Chief Financial Officer.
“Financial services open up a new avenue of consumer engagement for brands and allow them to deepen the consumer experience massively,” Marqeta Chief Operating Officer Vidya Peters said. “We’re excited that Alviere will be able to allow its brand customers to build in new payments experiences using our platform.”
Marqeta and Plaid have teamed up to simplify and streamline the ACH transfer process to enable faster funding of financial accounts.
The collaboration is designed to provide both seamless account funding as well as additional security during data transfer.
Both Marqeta and Plaid made their Finovate debuts as part of Finovate’s developer conference series, FinDEVr.
A partnership between a pair of Finovate alums – card-issuing platform Marqeta and financial data network Plaid – will simplify ACH transfers to make it easier for customers to authenticate and fund their accounts.
Per the agreement, Marqeta customer cardholders will be able to transfer money seamlessly between customers and external accounts, as well as verify and link to external accounts faster. The company’s customers also will be able to keep cardholders informed on the status of fund transfers via real-time notifications, and better manage issues ranging from initiations to cancellations to return. Enhanced security is another benefit of the partnership. Marqeta customers no longer will need to store sensitive information from cardholders’ external bank accounts – relying instead on tokens while Plaid and Marqeta exchange necessary bank account information in the background.
“We’re making it as simple as possible for consumers to access their bank information from one application, and reduce the time it takes to fund and begin using their account,” Marqeta Chief Operating Officer Vidya Peters explained. “Through our Plaid integration, developers building on Marqeta can authenticate users’ bank accounts without the complexity and extra time associated with traditional ACH processing, creating an overall more seamless experience.”
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Oakland, California, Marqeta is an alum of our developers conference FinDEVr Silicon Valley. The company’s card issuing platform provides businesses with the infrastructure, technology, and tools to build and manage their own payment programs. Last month, Marqeta announced that it has secured certification to operate in three countries in Southeast Asia – Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines – which means the company’s platform is now enabled in 39 countries around the world. Marqeta announced that, with its further expansion into the Asia Pacific (the company is also active in Australia and New Zealand), it will establish an Asia Pacific regional hub in Singapore later this year.
Also a veteran of our developers conference, Plaid began 2022 with the launch of its data privacy solution, Plaid Portal. The new privacy tool is designed for customers who have used Plaid to connect their financial accounts to apps and services in the U.S. Plaid Portal allows account holders to see which apps have accessed their financial data and to control where the data is shared. The company calls the new offering “one of many tools” under development to give customers both greater visibility into and control over how their data is shared. Ideally, this additional transparency will help allay data privacy concerns and provide users with greater confidence when it comes to taking advantage of increasingly open nature of the modern digital financial ecosystem.
The Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) revolution shows no signs of abating any time soon. A combination of newcomers, Buy Now Pay Later pioneers, and even credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard are figuring out new ways to integrate themselves into the biggest consumer commerce phenomenon since shopping by smartphone.
According to CNBC, which bases its analysis on data from FIS Worldpay, the Buy Now Pay Later market has an estimated value of $60 billion globally as of 2019 – though there are even higher estimates. Excluding China, this sum represents 2.6% of all e-commerce. And while BNPL represents less than 2% of sales in North America, the overall BNPL market, CNBC believes, could reach $166 billion by 2023.
Here is just a smattering of this week’s headlines from the Buy Now Pay Later beat that only underscores the velocity of the flight from credit cards and traditional consumer financing.
Stripe teams up with Klarna as BNPL competition from Square, PayPal intensifies
Klarna, a company with a long pedigree in providing consumers with alternative payment options, announced this week that it was partnering with ecommerce innovator and payments platform Stripe. The deal will enable Stripe customers in 20 countries to offer Klarna as a payment option to their customers. As part of the partnership, Klarna will use Stripe to accept payments from consumers in both the U.S. and Canada.
“Over the past years, Klarna and Stripe redefined the e-commerce experience for millions of consumers and global retailers,” Klarna Chief Technology Officer Koen Köppen said. “Together with Stripe, we will be a true growth partner for retailers of all sizes, allowing them to maximize their entrepreneurial success through our joint services. By offering convenience, flexibility, and control to even more shoppers, we create a win-win situation for both retailers and consumers alike.”
The partnership is widely seen as a way for Stripe to compete with payments rivals PayPal and Square, which have deepened their commitment to BNPL in recent months. Square agreed to acquire Australia’s Afterpay for $29 million in August. A month later, PayPalannounced its $2.7 billion acquisition of Japanese Buy Now Pay Later company Paidy.
Affirm partners with American Airlines to ease cost of holiday travel
In a move well-timed to take advantage of end-of-year travel trends, American Airlines has announced a partnership with Buy Now Pay Later innovator Affirm. The collaboration will enable eligible travelers to pay for the costs of airfare over time on an installment basis, providing them with “flexibility, transparency, and control,” according to Affirm Chief Commercial Officer Silvija Martincevic. Using Affirm, travelers can pay for flights costing at least $50 with monthly installments without having to pay late fees or worry about hidden charges.
“While consumers are as eager as ever to get away,” Martincevic said, “they remain conscious of fitting travel into their budget.” Martincevic cited a survey conducted by the company that indicated that 74% of Americans queried said they would spend more on holiday travel this year “than ever before,” but that 60% were worried that they would not be able to “afford to travel as they would like to.”
The offering is currently available only to select customers, but will be expanded to include more U.S. consumers in the weeks to come. The collaboration marks the first time that American Airlines has integrated BNPL options into its website.
Marqeta and Amount announce collaboration to help banks offer BNPL
The partnership announced this week between card issuing platform Marqeta and bank technology provider Amount will make it easier for financial institutions to get into the Buy Now Pay Later business. Marqeta and Amount have forged a virtual card and loan origination partnership that will enable banks to go to market with their own BNPL/virtual card offering in months. This will help them boost revenues, grow market share, and promote loyalty.
Echoing the challenge that banks and other financial institutions face from Big Tech and fintech alike, Amount CEO Adam Hughes pointed to the partnership with Marqeta as a way for banks to close the consumer expectations gap between themselves and more tech-savvy, tech-native enterprises entering the financial services space. “Banks must compete or continue to lose market share to digital challengers who offer a more flexible way for their customers to pay,” Hughes said.
Part of what makes the Marqeta/Amount partnership interesting is how it takes advantage of research that suggests that a significant number of consumers who have used BNPL would prefer it if the service came from their bank or credit card provider. Amount’s modular approach to BNPL is configurable, easy to deploy, and integrates readily with banks’ legacy platforms, giving FIs the ability to introduce BNPL offerings over a variety of different channels and payment methods.
Berlin-based Billie banks $100 million in funding
The latest reminder of the international growth of Buy Now Pay Later comes from the $100 million investment secured by Berlin, Germany-based, B2B Buy Now Pay Later startup, Billie. The Series C round was led by U.K.-based Dawn Capital and featured participation from Tencent and, interestingly enough, Klarna. In fact, Klarna’s investment comes in the wake of a strategic partnership with Billie in which the two companies will integrate their service to better leverage their core competencies, with Billie serving business customers and Klarna handling retail consumers.
“BNPL for B2B is still in its infancy phase,” Klarna CEO and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski explained, “even though the demand has never been higher. We are here to solve problems and by being able to offer this service to our merchant partners together with Billie, we are doing just that.”
The Series C round gives Billie a valuation of $640 million, and is believed to be the largest B2B Buy Now Pay Later funding round to-date. Co-founder and co-CEO of Billie, Dr. Matthias Knecht noted that those companies buying from larger businesses and individual retailers are increasingly embracing a “digital-first” approach that includes not just “modern user interfaces, high limits for shopping carts, as well as real-time decisions for B2B” but options like BNPL, as well. “There is nearly no provider of a BNPL product (for these companies) like what Klarna offers for B2C,” Knecht said. “We aim to close this gap.”
Visa expands BNPL offerings in Canada via partnership with Moneris
International card company and financial services provider Visa has been making inroads of its own into the Buy Now Pay Later market. This week, the company made headlines in the Canadian fintech news space via a new collaboration with unified commerce company Moneris.
“We’re happy to be working with a trusted brand like Visa Canada on providing a buy now pay later option to Canadians,” Moneris Chief Product and Partnership Officer Patrick Diab said. “Bringing flexible payment methods like buy now pay later to our merchants helps them offer their customers more options when it comes time to pay.”
Courtesy of the new collaboration, merchants partnered with Moneris will be able to leverage Visa’s BNPL solution – Visa Installments – to give eligible Canadian credit cardholders access to installment payments on qualifying purchases. Cardholders can use the existing credit on their cards to pay for purchases in smaller, equal payments over a defined time period, with no additional, new service sign ups or requirement to apply for a new line of credit.
Moneris is set to begin offering Visa Installments to its customers by the spring of 2022.
