Mastercard Invests in Another Fintech, Marqeta

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Mastercard

has invested in Marqeta, a card-issuing platform, as it extends its partnership with the fintech.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Marqeta provides API technology that helps companies like Square (ticker: SQ), Instacart, and DoorDash issue cards, including debit or credit, and process payments for their customers.

Since 2014, Marqueta and Mastercard (ticker: MA) have worked together helping fintechs and digital banks across North America and Europe bring card products and programs to market, the statement said. With Mastercard’s help, Marqeta will expand into new geographies, beginning with the Asia Pacific. The two companies also will collaborate to provide open access to Mastercard products for Marqeta customers, a statement said.

“Mastercard’s investment in Marqeta is a significant validation of the power of modern card issuing and the strength of our technology,” said Jason Gardner, founder and CEO at Marqeta, in the statement.

Marqeta was pegged by Barron’s as one of the fintechs most likely to sell after

Visa

(V) scooped up Plaid, a fintech that helps consumers give financial apps access to their bank account information, for $5.3 billion earlier this year. Marqeta, however, has maintained it isn’t for sale. The fintech is now expected to go public, but that likely won’t come until 2021.

Marqeta last raised $150 million from an undisclosed investor in May. The deal valued the Oakland, California, company at $4.3 billion. Marqeta also collected $260 million in 2019. The Series E round, led by Coatue Management and included Vitruvian Partners, valued Marqeta at nearly $2 billion.

The investment is the latest for the acquisitive Mastercard. The financial services company in June agreed to buy Finicity, a data aggregator that also provides a suite of APIs that helps companies authenticate and enroll customers, for nearly $1 billion. In 2019, Mastercard acquired Nets, a European payments company, for $3.2 billion. It also bought Transactis, which helps businesses deliver bills and receive payments, last year.

Write to Luisa Beltran at [email protected]