Mar 26, 2025

Wednesday 26 March 2025 14:20 CET | News Upside , a digital marketplace that helps individuals and businesses with financial tools, has partnered with Marqeta , a card issuing platform. This collaboration will allow Marqeta’s customers to integrate Upside’s always-on cashback offers into their consumer card programs. As a result, Marqeta’s clients can improve transaction volume and customer retention, solidifying their position in the competitive card market. Marqeta, which provides card issuing solutions for companies across various industries, will now offer Upside’s cash-back rewards to its consumer debit and prepaid card programs in the US. By leveraging this partnership, Marqeta’s clients can offer personalised cashback incentives, creating more value for cardholders. The integration enables data flow between Marqeta and Upside, allowing businesses to deliver rewards and actionable insights. Embedded Finance is reshaping consumer spending, with the global market projected to reach USD 7.2 trillion by 2030, according to a Deloitte report . Contextual rewards, a subset of this trend, are gaining traction as issuers shift from static incentives to real-time, data-driven offers. By integrating Upside’s AI-driven cashback offers into Marqeta’s card programs, this partnership reflects the growing move toward dynamic rewards that not only improve customer engagement but also drive incremental spending. As fintechs and issuers compete for top-of-wallet status, the ability to deliver contextual, merchant-funded incentives could become a key differentiator. Increasing consumer engagement with personalised rewards The integration of Upside’s cash-back offers into Marqeta’s card programs gives businesses a tool to increase engagement. By offering incentives in key spending categories such as groceries, restaurants, and fuel stations, businesses can encourage cardholders to use their cards more frequently. This, in turn, drives sustained engagement and increases transaction volume, helping the card reach the position of preferred payment method. Upside connects consumers with cash-back offers across a wide network of retail partners. By offering the highest-value rewards in everyday spending categories, Upside ensures that each transaction provides profit for retailers. Through this partnership, Marqeta’s customers can offer their cardholders significant savings while helping retailers attract new customers, increase repeat visits, and drive measurable, attributable transactions. In addition to reaching a large consumer base, Upside collaborates with over 100,000 retailers, helping them to maximise the impact of their promotional offers and improve customer loyalty. Through this partnership, Marqeta and Upside aim to redifine the future of consumer engagement in the card and retail sectors.