Marqeta Partners With Afterpay To Launch Virtual Cards For ANZ Market

Card-issuing platform Marqeta has joined forces with Afterpay to issue “virtual cards” as part of its in-store offerings for customers in Australia and New Zealand, the company announced in a Thursday (May 6) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) service Afterpay gives shoppers the ability to get their products right away and pay for them in four installments. The Australian company says it has more than 15 million active users around the world and is covered by close to 86,000 merchants. The firm recently launched a digital card that lets customers use its service at brick-and-mortar retailers.

Marqeta’s tokenization lets cards be issued instantly and provisioned directly into a mobile wallet, and helped power the launch of the Afterpay digital card. The companies have worked together in American and Canadian markets as well.

“Afterpay is reinventing the shopping experience for the next generation of consumers, giving them more control over their spending,” Lynne Lagan, director of international expansion for Afterpay, said in the news release. “Through our partnership with Marqeta, we are able to give our customers the same seamless and convenient payment experience whether they are shopping online or in person.”

Marqeta says it has issued more than 270 million cards worldwide and processed its first transactions in Australia in February of last year.

The partnership comes three months after Marqeta first announced it was entering the consumer credit card business. As PYMNTS reported in February, the new offering found Marqueta providing customers with underwriting compliance and risk management to help brands develop their own card programs.

Customers will be able to instantly activate newly approved cardholders and issue a virtual card that goes straight to the cardholder’s digital wallet.

The Marqeta/Afterpay partnership is also happening at a moment where BNPL is attracting a lot of consumer interest. The PYMNTS Buy Now Pay Later Tracker has found that 26 percent of younger shoppers are using BNPL for eCommerce purchases, and 14 percent of U.S. eCommerce shoppers overall have used it to finance recent items.