Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ), the global modern card issuing platform that enables embedded finance solutions, announced it is powering the new digital banking application Sumeria, launched recently by French payments firm Lydia Solutions (the company behind the Lydia app).
Sumeria has unveiled new digital banking capabilities “including a remunerated current account, and plans to expand quickly throughout Europe, thanks to the scale and global reach of Marqeta’s card processing platform.”
Marqeta’s platform has had great adoption “across Europe, and the company announced today it saw an 86% jump in European total processing volume from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024.”
Marqeta began partnering with Lydia Solutions “in 2019 to power its peer-to-peer payments app, and has helped it scale to serve 8 million users throughout France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal.”
Sumeria aims to simplify banking “with its easily accessible app designed to mimic the ease of use and intuitiveness of beloved consumer brands.”
Marqeta’s platform enables these dynamic capabilities, “ensuring security and compliance while issuing tokenized, virtual and physical cards for Sumeria customers that provide detailed, real-time views into their accounts and transactions.”
Marcin Glogowski, SVP, Managing Director Europe and UK CEO at Marqeta said:
“We’re proud to partner with Sumeria to help them create customized banking experiences for their customers and continue to expand their offering into new markets across Europe. Lydia has cultivated a completely unique and refreshing experience with its peer-to-peer payments app, and this same attention to detail and ease of use will translate well into the banking world.”
Sumeria will offer an online account “with 4% interest on cash balances for the first three months, and also incorporates stock trading, savings accounts and loans.”
Sumeria plans to invest over €100 million into “the business and hire 400 people over the next three years. Sumeria plans to enable users in different European countries to keep the same bank account if they move to another country they support, instead of opening a new local bank account in each country.”
Eurostat estimates that on average, “over 1.5 million citizens migrate from one EU member country to another on an annual basis. Sumeria will help these citizens simplify their moves.”
Cyril Ciche, CEO at Lydia said:
“Even though many traditional banks now have digital offerings, they’re still not the personalized, digital-first experiences that people are seeking from their banking partners. Marqeta has enabled us to challenge the norms of traditional banking and payments and create more flexible and streamlined experiences for our cardholders. We needed a partner that could help us scale and launch in new countries to help meet our ambitious goals for Sumeria – Marqeta has been a tremendous partner in our journey so far, and we’re excited to continue our work together in this new endeavor.”
