Marqeta Adds Singapore, Philippines, Thailand to Its Global Customer Base

Card issuer Marqeta’s payments platform is now certified in 39 countries after it added Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand, giving the company a foothold in five countries across Asia-Pacific (APAC), according to a Thursday (Jan. 27) press release.

Marqeta is planning to make Singapore its Asia-Pacific regional hub, and it will add more employees to support the region this year, the release stated. Last year, Marqeta announced it was opening an Australian office and supporting customers in New Zealand.

“Marqeta is a single, global platform, allowing our customers to build once and launch anywhere,” said Marqeta Chief Operating Officer Vidya Peters in the release. “We’re constantly assessing where our customers are looking to launch, and what markets hold the most immediate potential for our technology. We’re excited to support new card programs in these new markets and to enable our customers’ global expansion ambitions throughout 2022.”

Marqeta will launch in its three newest countries with a focus on FinTechs and so-called “local disruptors … that are looking to transform payments by creating digital-first, seamless customer experiences,” according to the release.

“These new markets have a common commitment to improving payment infrastructure, with a focus on interoperability between countries, making them a good fit for Marqeta’s modern card issuing technology,” the release stated.

In December, Marqeta broadened its partnership with Klarna by offering buy now, pay later (BNPL) services, virtual cards and other payments-related features in several new countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Norway, Finland and Denmark.

Read more: Marqeta, Klarna Continue Payments Tech Partnership in 13 New Countries

Klarna uses Marqeta Just-in-Time funding to get control over entire transactions, along with Marqeta’s technology and suite of application programming interfaces (APIs) to work with customizable product experiences.

The European expansion initially began in May, when Klarna debuted its U.K. shopping app. Marqeta then supported the one-time Klarna virtual cards in all markets starting in September.