# Marqeta **Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/marqeta **Vertical:** Embedded Finance **Subcategory:** Card Issuing Platform **Tier:** Leader **Website:** marqeta.com **Last Updated:** 2026-04-14 ## Summary Modern card issuing platform for building customized payment cards. Oakland CA, publicly traded (MQ), processes $170B+ in payment volume annually for Block, DoorDash, and Affirm. ## Company Overview Marqeta is a modern card issuing platform that enables companies to create, issue, and manage customized payment card programs. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Oakland, California, Marqeta went public on NASDAQ in 2021 under the ticker MQ. The company processes more than $170 billion in total payment volume annually and counts major technology and fintech companies including Block (formerly Square), DoorDash, Affirm, and Goldman Sachs among its customers.\n\nMarqeta's open API platform gives customers fine-grained control over card authorization logic — a capability it pioneered called Just-in-Time (JIT) funding. Rather than pre-loading a fixed balance onto a card, JIT funding allows the card issuer to make a real-time decision about whether to approve each transaction and how much to fund at the moment of authorization. This capability enables use cases like expense management cards that only work at approved merchants, installment payment cards that draw from loan credit in real time, and delivery driver cards that fund only when a courier has a specific delivery in progress.\n\nMarqeta serves a diverse range of card issuing use cases including buy now pay later card programs, corporate expense cards, disbursement cards, and digital wallets. The company's global issuing capabilities cover multiple currencies and payment networks across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Post-IPO, Marqeta has continued expanding its platform with token management, fraud controls, and card lifecycle management tools that enterprise issuers need for large-scale card programs. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Just-in-Time funding in Marqeta? Just-in-Time (JIT) funding is Marqeta's technology that funds a card transaction in real time at the moment of authorization, allowing issuers to apply custom logic — like only approving a delivery driver card during active deliveries — rather than pre-loading fixed balances. ### Who are Marqeta's largest customers? Marqeta's largest customers include Block (Square, Cash App), DoorDash, Affirm, Goldman Sachs, and other major technology and fintech companies building card-based financial products. ### Is Marqeta publicly traded? Yes. Marqeta went public on NASDAQ in June 2021 under the ticker symbol MQ, making it one of the few publicly traded pure-play card issuing infrastructure companies. ### What is Marqeta and what makes it different from traditional card processors? Marqeta is a modern card issuing platform built from the ground up with open APIs and just-in-time (JIT) funding capabilities. Unlike legacy card processors with rigid configurations, Marqeta allows programs to apply custom authorization logic at the moment of each transaction, enabling innovative products like delivery worker expense cards that only work at approved restaurants or gig worker instant payout cards. ### What is Marqeta's just-in-time (JIT) funding feature and why is it important? JIT funding allows Marqeta customers to fund card transactions at the precise moment of authorization rather than pre-loading funds to accounts in advance. This capability is critical for gig economy and marketplace companies that pay contractors instantly when they earn, rather than holding balances in advance. Square (Block) used JIT funding to enable instant payouts to sellers and Cash App users through Marqeta's infrastructure. ### Who are Marqeta's largest customers? Marqeta powers card programs for well-known companies including Square (Block), DoorDash, Uber, Klarna, JP Morgan Chase, and many other fintech and financial services companies. These customers represent a diverse range of use cases from buy-now-pay-later virtual cards to gig worker payment cards to corporate expense management. ### Is Marqeta a publicly traded company? Yes, Marqeta went public on Nasdaq in June 2021 under the ticker symbol MQ. The IPO was one of the notable fintech IPOs of that year. Marqeta continues to grow its platform customer base and international expansion while managing the financial pressure of its historically high customer concentration in Block (formerly Square). ### What international capabilities does Marqeta offer? Marqeta has expanded its card issuance capabilities to Europe, Australia, Canada, and other international markets, allowing its customers to issue cards and manage programs globally through a consistent API. International expansion is a key growth strategy as Marqeta's customers themselves operate globally and need a payment infrastructure partner that can follow them into new markets. ## Tags fintech, saas, b2b, api-first, platform, payment-processing, public, global --- *Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*