Alternative lender Capital on Tap expands to Spain using Marqeta API-powered platform

Marqeta, the leading global modern card issuing platform, today announced it has helped one of the UK’s fastest-growing companies, Capital on Tap, to expand its small business credit lending services to Spain. Capital on Tap will be using Marqeta to power payment processing for its small business credit card, offering a working capital facility of up to €50,000 for small businesses. Capital on Tap’s new Spanish users will be provided with a new, Marqeta-powered credit card, offering small businesses a faster and more transparent way to fund their business.

Using Marqeta, Capital on Tap allows Spanish SMEs to access funding in a more streamlined and frictionless way. Its online onboarding processes mean customers don’t need to visit their bank and wait weeks for a response; instead, decisions on funding can be made within a day. In addition, Marqeta-powered credit cards provide more suitable lines of credit, while enabling greater customisation, expense tracking, and categorisations to meet the needs of small businesses.

“As the world begins easing Covid-19 restrictions, SMEs will be looking for accessible funding to help them get back up and running again. But to date, businesses globally have faced several issues trying to access working capital from state-backed schemes, while banks are taking longer to respond and are more reluctant to lend. As a result, SMEs have been unable to access useful lines of credit focused on their needs,” said Ruben Vidal, the Spanish MD for Capital on Tap. “With Marqeta, we’re able to address several of these issues right away. Our quick and easy processing means SMEs can focus on running their businesses, instead of jumping through hoops to secure the funding they need. We expect to issue millions of Euros to Spain’s 3 million sole traders and small businesses within 2020 and beyond, supporting their plans to reopen, grow and prosper.”

Marqeta’s simple API-driven approach made it simple for Capital on Tap’s systems and developers to customise the card programmes to meet the needs of the Spanish market. The team was able to replicate its existing card programme in the UK with a few modifications – for example, switching currencies and lending criteria. This helped to ensure all customers and payments are configured and processed in the same way, through one central global platform, reducing operational overheads.

“Launching a new card programme in a new region can be extremely complex. With other providers it would potentially involve an entirely new build, but with Marqeta it was surprisingly easy – we could essentially copy and paste our UK model across, with a few small but essential tweaks to ensure it was a perfect fit for the market,” added Zoe Newman, Capital on Tap’s head of international expansion. “Using our existing Marqeta sandbox environment we were able to begin testing as soon as we were ready. The Marqeta team was very responsive and on-call to help with any of our questions. If we’d had to start from scratch with another third-party provider, it would have taken over 6 months, but once we made the decision it only took a couple of days to get everything up and running. It has also provided us with a blueprint for future expansions across Europe and the US in years to come.”