They say the only constant in life is change. That’s certainly been true for the FinTech industry this year.
As we look back at the turbulence of 2023, it seems change was the major driving force disrupting both the industry and Marqeta itself.
There’s been change in the economy, change in politics, change in the environment, and change for us too as we navigated the difficult world around us and change in consumer demands. Almost every business has found things difficult this year, regardless of their industry.
Whether it’s the hangover from the pandemic, a worldwide economic downturn, political upheaval or climate change events, it seems as though there’s always another disaster lurking around the corner. Despite that, there’s plenty of room for gratification as we look back at 2023, and optimism for the year ahead.
In no particular order, here’s a look at some of the highs from Marqeta this calendar year.
Simon Khalaf completes his first year as new CEO.
Back in January, it was reported that Simon was becoming the company’s new CEO.
A veteran technology exec, Simon joined the company in June 2022, and aims to take Marqeta to new levels of platform reach and scale.
Back in Jan, Simon said: “I’m humbled by the opportunity to build upon Jason’s vision for modern card issuing and continue to redefine what cards can do for leading innovators globally. There is tremendous opportunity in front of us to enable the brands we serve with our innovative, flexible platform and grow the ubiquity of digital payments globally.”
After a hugely successful first year, hopes are high Simon will continue where he left off into 2024 and beyond.
We sponsored events, hosted others and attended even more.
We sponsored the ever amazing Money 20/20 in the US and attended the Europe show to keep Marqeta fresh in the minds of the FinTech world. We showed off the boundless possibilities of the future of embedded finance.
There was also the fabulous FinTech Talents Festival, in London. A two day celebration highlighting some of the most exciting projects and initiatives FinTech has to offer.
You couldn’t have packed more talent into this year’s event if you tried. You can read about the event here.
Other FinTech events that Marqeta participated this year include Fintech Meetup, Fintech Nexus, and Finovate Fall. Each event gave us greater insights into the industry and provided fresh leads for our revenue teams.
In November, we hosted Investor Day, a showcase of our business growth and momentum heading into 2024. Explore our strategic roadmap and unique position in capitalising on the embedded finance market, right here.
In October, we hosted our first in-person Customer Advisory Board event and gleaned valuable insights from some of our customers while strengthening relationships between our execs and theirs.
We released two reports on the State of Credit and State of Payments. Both of which, we know a lot about.
For Payments This is our fourth annual report, which dived head first into consumer confidence and embedded finance. Our report showed a staggering 72% of mobile wallet users now feel comfortable leaving their wallet at home, relying on their phone for payments.
We highlighted the fact that 90% of US consumers who use mobile wallets said adding their card to their mobile wallet was much simpler than they had initially thought.
86% of US mobile wallet users have made a purchase via a retailer’s embedded mobile app. And 80% of US consumers reported using peer-to-peer (P2P) payment transactions at least once.
It’s a healthy time to be in the business, and 86% of US mobile wallet users now make purchases directly through a retailer’s mobile app. Elsewhere in Payments content, we wrote Abstracting complexity: how to navigate the payments ecosystem with confidence.
Purchasing goods and services today is seamless. Technology’s facilitated a bright new world of modern payment solutions.
You can also read about the benefits of AWA for workers and employers, and how it’s differentiated from some of the more well-known offerings in the market, in our white paper ‘Accelerating Prosperity: The Power of Accelerating Worker Access to Pay’.
And in Credit too.
There’s increased room for optimism heading into the new year. 38% of UK respondents have used Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services to make ends meet during the last 12 months. And 61% of UK consumers looking to build their credit confirmed they were interested in using BNPL to further improve credit scores.
Consumers are increasingly reliant on credit right now. Whether that’s from a desire to build credit potential, or a sign of the times in the cost of living, it’s good news for operators. But the headline is that consumers are looking to brands for financial services.
Some of our leaders shared some thoughts about the industry
Nick Holt, Head of Solutions and Delivery in Europe talked us through the current state of play in Internationalisation. In this white paper Nick looks at new horizons and new opportunities open to you if you’re dreaming of expanding overseas in the near future.
Naturally, global expansion can do wonders for customer numbers, market share, revenues and diversified investments, but opportunities come with risks. Read Nick’s full report for the lowdown.
We also released Demystifying Cards.
It’s a definitive guide to payments and cards, with everything one might need to know on building and launching a card programme in Europe. Of course, we make reference to the wider payment ecosystem for useful context. In the U.K. alone, payments with cash declined by 50% between 2010 and 2019 to a mere 15% of all transactions.
And in the US, it’s even more staggering. With one report from February showing just 9% of Americans use cash, with physical or digital cards accounting for 85% of purchases.
This is a hot topic and will continue to be for some time.
We hosted some livestreams, a full series in fact
You can look back at our entire catalogue of livestreams and immerse yourself in the world of Marqeta and API chronicles.
Click here to watch.
There are coffee chats, fireside chats, FTT features, Founders’s thoughts, Money 20/20 interviews, Glass Ceiling conversations and a whole plethora of insights and interviews you won’t find anywhere else.
We won some awards
Not why we do it of course, but it’s always nice to be noticed.
Marqeta received gongs at various established events throughout the course of the year.
We were a Platinum Winner at the Juniper Research Awards. Alongside the overall prize, Marqeta and Simon Khalaf were honoured to see our new CEO win “Fintech Mover and Shaker of the Year”.
We won the **Best Overall Embedded Finance Platform award.** The 2023 Tearsheet Big Bang Theory Award for Best Overall Embedded Finance Platform is a prize well worth celebrating and will take a prized position on the mantelpiece for years to come.
Embedded finance unlocks the potential for brands to launch individualised payment experiences within the apps consumers use daily. Explore how we're powering these capabilities here: https://bit.ly/3T8ernY
And finally, we won the **Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year. Marqeta was named the Silver Stevie® Award winner in the Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year category at the 21st Annual American Business Awards. It’s certainly been a stellar year for acknowledgments from the sector.
Bouncing back from loss
Of course, it hasn’t all been positive this year. It very rarely is. Indeed, be wary of any company rounding up their year with solely positive news, they’re almost certainly leaving something to the imagination.
Earlier in the year Marqeta was forced to react to industry upheaval and was extremely sad to lose 17% of its workforce. Not a small number, but necessary in pursuit of progress.
Positively, the losses weren’t as heavy as initially feared, and we’re now in full hiring mode again, looking ahead to the future.
New partnerships and acquisitions
And to fit in line with the pursuit of progress, Marqeta renewed some long-standing partnerships and made a key acquisition from the FinTech ecosystem.
FinTech company Power Finance was acquired in a $275M all-cash deal.
As our first acquisition, this achievement shouldn’t be understated. Marqeta’s main goal with the purchase is to expand and “significantly accelerate the capabilities” offered in its credit product. Specifically, the acquisition will give Marqeta customers a way to launch “a wide range” of credit products and constructs, the company said, by incorporating Power’s data science toolbox and its ability to embed experiences inside existing mobile and web applications into its own offering.
We’re hugely excited to see where the future of this venture will take us.
And in partnership news…
We announced a partnership with Scalapay to deliver buy now pay later across Europe.**
As we mentioned above in our State of Credit report, 35% or people surveyed said they use BNPL more than credit cards. Therefore showing continued engagement with this lending vertical, and a percentage of the market that’s well worth staking a claim in.
Scalapay is an innovative payment solution for e-commerce merchants across the globe that allows customers to buy now and pay later, in 3 or 4 instalments, without interest.
This is another partnership that’s giving extreme cause for optimism across the business.
And we also extended our Block partnership as revenues saw a 25% spike.
This four year extension will see Marqeta continue to power Block’s mobile money transfer app Cash App to 2027. We’ve also added a new partnership branching into Brazil with banking-as-a-service platform Fitbank. Block will now act as Marqeta’s BIN sponsor for customers looking to launch in the area in addition to being a customer.
These deals coincide with the news that in the second quarter of 2023, Marqeta saw total processing volume reach $54bn with a net revenue of $231m, marking a 33% and 24% increase YoY, respectively.
So, a turbulent, ultimately successful year for Marqeta. We’ve navigated the difficult market conditions well and look set to continue in to 2024 with even greater heights on the horizon.
It’s no secret the world’s seen its fair share of trouble recently. But FinTech can provide a real platform to bounce back and rise from the ashes.
There are products in the marketplace that can help people save, spend more wisely, manage their wealth, utilities and bills and maintain their finance portfolios in more diverse ways than ever before.
Marqeta’s commitment to be at the cutting edge of that innovation will see us push the boundaries of possibility once more when January rolls round.
