Marqeta Announces First Australian Transactions, Continuing Its Rapid Global Expansion

The US-based modern card issuing platform is launching in Australia in partnership with two of its existing major global customers, Klarna and Doordash

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Marqeta, the global modern card issuing platform, announced today that it has begun transacting in Australia, where it will be supporting two of its major global customers, Klarna and Doordash with their own expansions into the country.

Australia is the first Asia-Pacific market that Marqeta has entered, following its announcement last October that it is certified to process payments in 10 countries across APAC in partnership with Visa. Marqeta’s first live Australian transactions took place in early January.

According to JP Morgan, Australia has the highest penetration of traditional bank accounts in APAC, while also experiencing a rapid rise in digital payments. According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, the average Australian made more than twice as many electronic payments in 2019 as they did 10 years ago, with double-digit growth predicted in mobile wallet payments in the next five years,¹ with 58 percent of the country already engaging with new fintechs.²

“We love working with Marqeta. Their ability to work at speed, cut through complexity and always have the end consumer experience at heart perfectly matches how we work at Klarna. Our close collaboration in bringing an entirely new product offering and shopping experience to the Australian market in record time has been a big success. The positive reaction of Australian consumers is evident in just how many are downloading and using the app and ghost card each day,” says Koen Köppen, CTO at Klarna.

Australia represents a new addition to Marqeta’s increasingly global footprint. Marqeta announced in December that it has issued more than 140 million cards in the United States and would qualify as a top 25 US debit card issuer as a standalone platform. Marqeta operates in Canada, as well as Europe, where it launched in 2018 and is already powering more than a dozen new customers.

“Card issuing is on its way to being an $80 trillion global opportunity by 2030, and Marqeta is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this over the coming years. We have a commitment to providing our customers with a single global platform to help them easily expand internationally, and it’s rewarding to see our customers take advantage of the possibilities this provides them,” said Jason Gardner, founder and CEO of Marqeta. “The Australian market relies heavily on card spending and is digitizing rapidly. It is a market that was important to our customers and where we saw a lot of potential for Marqeta technology to help revolutionize customer experiences in payments.”

About Marqeta

Marqeta is the first global modern card issuing platform, providing the most advanced infrastructure and tools for building highly configurable payment cards. With its open API, the Marqeta platform is designed for businesses who want a simple and tailored way of managing payment programs so that they can create world-class experiences and power new modes of commerce. Marqeta is headquartered in Oakland, California. For more information, visit www.marqeta.com, Twitter and LinkedIn.

¹ Australia Mobile Wallet & Payment Market Opportunities (2019 Databook Series)

² Ernst and Young Australian Fintech census