Today in the Connected Economy: Klarna, Marqeta Launch US Visa Card

Today in the connected economy, buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider Klarna teams up with card issuer Marqeta to launch a physical Visa card for U.S. customers. Plus, Saudi Arabia’s HyperPay raises $36.7 million to expand its payment services to businesses in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Plaid and Mollie team up to help merchants in Europe and United Kingdom launch online stores and receive payments.

Klarna Intros Physical Visa Card With Issuing Platform Marqeta

Card issuing platform Marqeta has joined forces with BNPL firm Klarna to launch a physical Visa card that consumers can use to pay for online and in-store purchases interest-free in four installments. The Klarna Card is available in the U.S., which is Klarna’s fastest-growing market by volume. The two companies worked together in 2018 in the U.S. to launch virtual cards across multiple product offerings.

HyperPay Raises $36.7M to Expand Payment Services to MENA Merchants

HyperPay has raised $36.7 million to expand its payment services to merchants in MENA. Launched in 2014, HyperPay offers payment processing services, invoicing, risk and fraud management, and other services for small businesses. The company will use the funding to continue its expansion across Egypt and the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

Plaid Teams With Mollie to Help European eCommerce Merchants

Data network Plaid is collaborating with Dutch FinTech Mollie to give European and U.K. merchants an easier time opening online stores and receiving payments. The project will link Plaid’s open banking data network directly to Mollie’s platform, letting the data network validate bank account ownership in real time. Previously, Mollie’s onboarding process included multiple identity and bank account ownership verification checks.

Payoneer Partners With Optty for BNPL Offering

BNPL integration platform Optty has teamed with payments provider Payoneer, to meet what the firm called a growing demand for multiple BNPL options. Optty works with payment gateways and payment service providers (PSPs) to help them expand BNPL offerings in 59 markets around the world, “driving significant acceleration of payments processing growth,” the company said.

TrueLayer, Thunes Team on Open Banking Payments in Europe, UK

European open banking platform TrueLayer and global cross-border payments platform Thunes have teamed up to make it easier for U.K. and European consumers to make payments. Thunes’ growing B2B payment infrastructure “addresses the payment needs of online retailers, marketplaces, gig and shared economy platforms as well as FinTechs,” the companies said. Thunes will incorporate TrueLayer’s open banking payments into its platform for its 100,000 merchants around the world.