Marqeta Powers Instant Card Issuance For Alipay Users Stateside

Marqeta, an open API card issuer, and Alipay, a third-party payment platform popular in China, have announced news of a partnership that will make using Alipay easier in the U.S. Marqeta’s API platform will reportedly ease completion of Alipay’s payments in real time.

Alipay has more than 520 million registered users in China, according to the firm. The company announced a major expansion into U.S. markets earlier this year through a deal with First Data, TechCrunch reported at the time, with Alipay gaining access to point-of-sale systems at 4 million domestic retail partners.

The firm, owned by Ant Financial, expects to expand its user base to exceed 2 billion within the next 10 years. As of now, the company’s payment method is accepted in 70 countries and performs retail transactions for shoppers in 14 different currencies.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Marqeta and take advantage of the most modern, flexible and scalable payment platform in the market today,” said Souheil Badran, president, Alipay North America. “Marqeta’s technology is unsurpassed for flexibility, security, speed and ease of implementation — elements that ensure we are bringing the best experience possible to our fast-growing base of users and merchants.”

“Alipay’s reach, consumer base and transaction velocity is impressive, and we’re excited to be the partner for Alipay in the U.S.,” said Jason Gardner, CEO of Marqeta. “The Marqeta platform will ensure a seamless user and merchant experience across the U.S. that Alipay’s customers need when traveling and shopping abroad.”

The Marqeta platform offers consumers tokenized transactions and a number of ways to make payments digitally. It is “the world’s first fully documented, open API issuer processor platform,” according to the company’s website. The platform has been adopted by a number of financial services and retailers.

Also today, Alipay announced partnerships with JPMorgan Chase and Poynt to make its service easily available for tourists visiting U.S. retailers.