Marqeta to Embed BNPL in Payment Apps and Digital Wallets

Marqeta has unveiled a new solution that delivers buy now, pay later (BNPL) payment options inside payment apps and digital wallets.

The new Marqeta Flex is being developed with payment providers Klarna and Affirm and payments platform Branch, Marqeta said in a Monday (Oct. 28) press release.

“Marqeta Flex is about building upon the transformational impact that buy now, pay later has had over the last decade, and helping consumers access these options intuitively from inside an even greater range of payment experiences,” Marqeta CEO Simon Khalaf said in the release.

Marqeta Flex is designed to expand the distribution of BNPL and provide these options to consumers when they need them, according to the release.

For consumers, the solution will present personalized BNPL options inside the payment apps they use, the release said.

It will also allow payment providers that offer BNPL options to access more consumers, and card issuers and digital wallets to access a variety of global BNPL providers through a single integration with Marqeta Flex, per the release.

Branch, which is a key innovation partner of this solution, plans to integrate Marqeta Flex into its payments app for W-2 and 1099 workers, according to the release.

“We look forward to giving the workers we serve even greater payment access and choice,” Branch Chief Payments Officer Ahmed Siddiqui said in the release.

BNPL adoption rates are highest among Gen Z and millennial consumers, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report, “New Data: Defining the New Buy Now, Pay Later Consumer.”

The report found that 46% of Gen Z and 47% of millennials have used BNPL in the past 12 months.

Marqeta reported in August that its total processing volumes (TPVs) surged 32% to $71 billion in the second quarter.

As had been seen in past quarters, “consumers continued to branch out in financial services looking for alternatives to traditional banks,” Khalaf said Aug. 7 during the company’s quarter earnings call.

In another, separate product launch, Marqeta said in July that it partnered with Visa and Affirm to become the first U.S. processor to enable Visa Flexible Credential, a card offering that toggles between payment methods: debit, credit, cryptocurrency and pay-over-time options.