Modern card issuer Marqeta has secured its first four partnerships in Europe following its launch in-market in the region last October,reports Jane Connolly of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The California fintech has signed up digital banks Morning and YAPEAL – from France and Switzerland respectively – along with Spain’s point-of-sale lender Aplazame and Scandinavian mobile payments platform Auka.

Marqeta, which has created an advanced payments infrastructure and open-API platform defining a new standard for modern card issuing, sees the UK and Europe as a key market in its global expansion plans.

According to Marqeta’s research, Europeans are 2.5 times more likely to be already using a digital bank than someone in the United States.

Ian Johnson, head of European growth at Marqeta, said: “(The U.K. and Europe) has a thriving ecosystem of digital banks and fintech start-ups that have already had a lot of success in market. To be able to bring on customers of this calibre is true validation of the global possibilities around modern card issuing and of our early work in the market.”

Marqeta has been awarded a valuation of nearly $2 billion. The fintech views modern card issuing as a $40 trillion addressable opportunity.

The company participated in our developers conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley, in 2016. At the event, Chief Technology Officer Tony Ford provided a presentation on payment gateways and API innovation titled Democratizing Issuer Payment Processing with Just-in-time Funding.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Oakland, California, Marqeta has raised more than $116 million in funding. The company’s investors include 83North, ICONIQ Capital, Commerce Ventures, IA Capital Group, and Visa.