Marqeta Posts Big Numbers As Gardner Says He’s Moving Out of His CEO Role

The card-issuing platform Marqeta Inc. on Wednesday reported processing volume of $40 billion for the June quarter, a 53% increase over the same time last year, but the 12-year-old company also announced its founding chief executive is leaving that position. Jason Gardner, a well-known payments entrepreneur, said he will move into an executive chairman role at the company once a new CEO has been appointed. A search has been initiated.

Gardner is stepping away as CEO of the Oakland, Calif.-based company, whose clients include Block Inc., Doordash, and Klarna AB, is enjoying a time of considerable momentum. Marqeta offers open application programming interfaces to allow clients to generate and control their own payment cards on the major global card networks. In its latest move, Marqeta in April launched RiskControl, a set of risk-management and compliance tools aimed at helping issuers on its platform streamline their risk programs.

For the June quarter, that surge in processing volume helped drive revenue up 53% to $187 million, while gross profit came in at $78 million, up by nearly two-thirds.

But the news about Gardner wasn’t the only personnel announcement at Marqeta. The company also said its chief operating officer, Vidya Peters, has resigned, effective Sept. 3. Further information wasn’t immediately available.

The personnel news and second-quarter results cap a promising first year for Marqeta as a public company. It also opens a new set of opportunities and challenges not only for the company but also for Gardner, who is known in the payments industry for his entrepreneurial skills.

In 2007, Gardner’s prior company, PropertyBridge Inc., was a pioneer in expanding PINless debit acceptance to rent payments. The nation’s electronic funds transfer networks had been cautious about expanding the PINless option to debit card payments beyond categories deemed lower risk. With PINless debit, debit card users enter their card account numbers but not their PINs.

At the time, PropertyBridge was an independent sales organization sponsored by Wells Fargo  & Co. and First National Bank of Omaha.