Google Pay has turned to card issuing platform Marqeta to power its new virtual card, which enables users to make purchases directly from their Google Pay balance.
The Google Pay balance card allows users to spend their Google Pay balance through a virtual card tokenised into a mobile wallet. This can be used at participating merchants.
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Earlier, Google Pay users could use their balance for making person-to-person payments, purchases on eligible Google-owned properties, in addition to transferring their funds to their bank account.
Marqeta founder and CEO Jason Gardner said: “Marqeta’s modern card issuing platform is designed to be able to help the world’s most innovative companies execute game changing products at scale, and it’s hard to find a company that embodies this more than Google. We’re honored to be working with Google Pay.”
People have increasingly adopted contactless payments and mobile wallets, instead of paying with cash or physical debit cards, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Marqeta’s card issuing technology allows the companies to instantly issue a tokenised card into a mobile wallet.
This enables cardholders to instantly start spending while eliminating the need to manually enter card numbers.
Commenting on the development, Google Pay Payments Americas vice-president Tarun Bhatnagar said: “We are always looking for ways to make Google Pay more helpful to our users.
“By working with Marqeta, we are able to give our users another way to spend the funds in their Google Pay balance, making it even easier to pay for everyday items.”
In May this year, Google Pay rolled out an international money transfer service for its US customers in alliance with Western Union and Wise.
Last year, the firm expanded its footprint in Europe with the launch of its payment service in Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, and Romania.
