Global card issuing platform Marqeta is partnering with Square to bring the Square Card to small-and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across Canada, according to a press release emailed to PYMNTS on Thursday (Nov. 18).
The Square Card is intended to help small business owners with financial management and cash flow handling. Partnered with Marqeta, Square scaled its U.S. card operations for Canadian Square sellers.
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“Our partnership with Marqeta has enabled us to build a highly successful card program with the ability to scale as we grow and expand into new markets,” said Christina Riechers, head of product for the Square Banking Team. “Businesses should be able to access their money as soon as they make a sale.”
Small businesses were hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, in part due to cash flow management issues, according to the release. When Marqeta and Square first launched Square Card two years ago as an expense card for SMBs, it gave owners the ability to get their earnings right away without incurring any extra fees. Before Square Card, Canadian sellers have had to wait until the next business day.
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“Our platform helps companies build innovative card programs that scale globally rapidly, and the Square Card expansion into Canada is a testament to Marqeta’s commitment to helping its customers grow and scale,” said Vidya Peters, COO at Marqeta.
In order to seamlessly launch the card, Square tapped Marqeta’s robust expertise — card network integrations, compliance know-how and risk management capabilities. Marqeta’s “push provisioning functionality” enabled Square sellers to launch a new, tokenized virtual card.
Square also uses the Marqeta platform’s Just-In-Time (JIT) Funding to “seamlessly control the authorization of transactions based on the attributes and parameters the team had previously set up when they launched the U.S. Square Card program.”
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