Fintech Marqeta is pushing into banking for the next phase of growth

Oct 24 (Reuters) – Marqeta, a fintech company focused on payments services, is launching a series of new banking products in a major push to deepen relationships with clients that include Coinbase, Uber and DoorDash.

The new “banking as a service” platform includes 40 new application programming interfaces, or APIs, which will be offered through Marqeta’s existing banking partners to provide customers with “demand deposit” accounts (such as current accounts), early payment options and instant payment. financing, along with other functions.

The announcement comes at a critical time for the Oakland, Calif.-based company, whose shares have fallen more than 50% since the start of this year, as executives search for a new CEO to replace co-founder Jason Gardner, who announced in August he would he get off.

“We have a strong vision over the next few decades that we believe customers will come to Marqeta to build these next-generation products,” Gardner, who will continue as executive chairman after the company names a new CEO, said in an interview.

“We’re pretty confident that this is where the world is going to move, and we’ve had a good track record so far in being able to predict what companies need in terms of financial infrastructure and help them along the way.”

Banking-as-a-service, the practice of offering banking products and services through third-party providers, has grown in popularity in recent years as businesses seek to bring financial services traditionally provided through a bank directly to their customers.

Coinbase and Branch, a company that aims to facilitate payments for entrepreneurs, are already using Marqeta’s new banking services, Marqeta said in a release.

Coinbase has “seen many benefits from the flexibility of Marqeta’s banking as a service tool,” Sanchan Saxena, vice president of retail at the crypto exchange, said in a statement.

Most of the new banking functions are already up and running, and Marqeta expects all products to be operational by the end of this year.

Gardner said that while the company does not have a timeline in place to name a new CEO, it is moving quickly to find the right candidate.

“The market wants us to move as quickly as possible and that is also part of my goal, but I have to make the best and most informed decision,” he said.

Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by David Holmes

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