Marqeta review: products, technology and pricing (2026)

Marqeta is a US card issuing and processing platform that lets fintechs, software platforms and banks create and run their own debit, prepaid and credit card programmes through an API. What sets its technology apart is Just-in-Time (JIT) Funding: a card can hold no balance at all, and money is moved onto it only at the instant a purchase is authorised.

Marqeta sits on the issuing side of a card payment, not the merchant side. It connects to the card networks on behalf of the companies that give cards to consumers or employees. Our guide to how card payments work shows where an issuer processor fits in the chain.

At a glance

Key figures

Customers named on Marqeta's own site include Cash App, DoorDash and Klarna. Its 2026 releases add Block's Square, Google, Expensify and Coinbase.

How the platform works

Marqeta's model is built around a few configurable objects. A customer first defines a card product, which sets how cards behave. Individual cards are then created from that product and inherit its rules. Cards can be physical, which need activation, or virtual, which can be issued instantly and are often single use.

The money side has two main models, according to Marqeta's developer guides:

In a Gateway JIT flow, the authorisation request arrives from the network, Marqeta applies merchant and velocity controls, and then calls the customer's endpoint with a funding request. The customer's system approves or declines, and can approve a smaller amount when partial approval is allowed. Marqeta then funds the card, answers the network and sends a webhook so the customer can update its own ledger. This is what lets an expense platform or a delivery app decide, purchase by purchase, whether a card should work.

Marqeta's documentation also covers what happens when things do not answer in time. If the customer's gateway does not respond, a fallback it calls Commando Mode decides using pre-agreed rules. If the network cannot reach Marqeta at all, the network itself can stand in and report the transactions later.

Controls are a large part of the stack. Authorisation controls restrict where a card can be used by merchant or merchant category, and velocity controls cap amounts and frequency. These can be set at user, group or card product level.

For mobile wallets, cards can be pushed into Apple Pay and Google Wallet. The tokens are generated by the networks such as Visa and Mastercard, so the real card number is not exposed at checkout; our guide to network tokenisation explains the mechanism.

On risk, the RiskControl suite bundles KYC, 3D Secure, disputes handling and Real-Time Decisioning (RTD). In March 2026 Marqeta added a machine learning risk score to RTD. The company says it checks more than 300 transaction attributes against past behaviour and returns a score in milliseconds, at the point of authorisation.

Products

Issuing and processing

The core service issues and processes debit and prepaid cards for consumer and commercial programmes. Marqeta handles card creation, transaction processing and the links to networks and partner banks.

Credit

The credit platform supports credit programmes, accounts, statements, payments, disputes and rewards through its own set of APIs. In October 2026 Marqeta said Block was moving the Square Credit Card, a business card on the American Express network, onto this platform, alongside Square's debit and prepaid programmes.

Flexible credentials

A flexible credential lets one card switch between payment types such as debit, credit, pay-in-four instalments or points. Marqeta announced in July 2024 that it had been certified by Visa as a US issuer processor for Visa Flexible Credential, working with Affirm.

Accounts and money movement

Beyond cards, Marqeta offers virtual accounts and transfers. In Europe, a May 2026 release described multi-currency virtual accounts tied to a debit card, with UK Faster Payments and SEPA Credit and SEPA Instant transfers, delivered with Banking Circle.

Programme services

For companies that do not want to run every operational task, Marqeta offers programme management, card fulfilment, fraud monitoring, dispute handling and reporting. The UX Toolkit supplies PCI-compliant card management components that can be embedded in an app.

Stablecoin-backed cards

During 2026 Marqeta signed three partnerships that link card issuing to stablecoin balances. In each case the partner (zerohash, BVNK or Coinbase) handles custody and conversion, while Marqeta handles the card, processing and network relationships. Merchants receive ordinary fiat settlement. Our explainer on how stablecoin payments work covers the wider model.

Developer experience and integrations

Marqeta's public documentation is open to read and its quick start can be followed in a free public sandbox.

The quick start walks through creating a user, picking an existing card product, issuing a card and simulating a $10 authorisation, with cURL examples. Marqeta's guide does not name language SDKs. Customers running Gateway JIT must serve their endpoint over TLS 1.2 or later and pass a certification in the private sandbox before going live.

Payment methods, currencies and coverage

Marqeta describes itself as certified to operate in more than 40 countries. Its programmes run on the major card networks: the documentation refers to Visa and Mastercard tokens, and the Square Credit Card runs on American Express. In Europe, its May 2026 release said account and money movement features were extended to 30 more European countries through Banking Circle, adding Faster Payments in the UK and SEPA rails across the euro area. See our guide to real-time payments for how instant rails such as SEPA Instant differ from card settlement.

Pricing model

Marqeta does not publish a standard price list on the pages we reviewed on 3 November 2026. Programmes are priced by agreement with the company. Its quarterly reporting tracks total processing volume alongside net revenue, which gives an idea of scale but not of the fee a given programme pays. Businesses comparing issuing platforms should ask for a written quote covering processing, card production, programme management and any minimums.

Recent launches

The Google release is a useful example of the platform in practice: Marqeta supplies issuing, tokenisation and real-time spend controls, while Google provides the wallet and the parent-facing controls.

Regulation in brief

Marqeta says it is not a bank, a lender or a money transmitter, and that it provides technology that relies on bank and licensed partners (May 2026 release). In the US, cards are issued by partner banks; the October 2026 Square release names Sutton Bank and Celtic Bank. In Europe, Marqeta says its 2025 acquisition of TransactPay gives it e-money capabilities, without naming the licensed entity in that release. Our guide on how to check a financial licence explains how to confirm the partner behind a given programme.

Who it tends to suit

Marqeta is commonly used by fintechs, expense management tools, delivery and marketplace apps, and digital banks that want close control over every authorisation. Gateway JIT Funding may suit businesses that already run their own ledger and want to approve each purchase in real time. Companies that want to issue cards quickly without that level of engineering may prefer Marqeta's managed options or an all-in-one provider such as Stripe. Businesses weighing network choice can read Visa vs Mastercard, and the cards category lists our other coverage.