The news: Marqeta’s total processing volume (TPV) hit $112 billion, a 33% YoY increase, per its Q1 2026 earnings release.

Net revenues and gross profit clocked in at $166 million and $118 million, respectively, both up 19% YoY.

Despite decent fundamentals, CFO Patti Kangwankij warned that “we do expect to see a decline of new issuances in Q2 and more in the second half”—which Marqeta expects could shave as much as 2 percentage points off gross profit growth for 2026.

Diving into the results: Buy now, pay later (BNPL) and expense management outperformed. BNPL has notched over four quarters of growth over 50%, and expense management has hit growth over 40%. 

That strength was driven by geographic expansion, Pay Anywhere enterprise cards, and stronger user growth for SMB lending products, per the earnings call. 

Why this matters: Marqeta has long been beholden to Block to grow volume and revenues. Now, with non-Block TPV growing two times faster than Block TPV, Marqeta has a pathway for more sustainable growth. 

This could give Marqeta better leverage to negotiate future deals with Block, which was able to force concessions from the firm during recent contract renegotiations for Cash Card issuance.

Looking forward: Marqeta can lean into BNPL volume more with its adoption of Mastercard One flexible credentials—especially helpful for capturing debit-forward consumers who want the versatility of credit, debit, prepaid, and installments tethered to one card. New partnerships allowing stablecoin settlements and connections to crypto wallets could also help lift revenues.

Implications for payment providers: As economic uncertainty builds, providers that offer payment flexibility through installments and flexible credentials are more likely to capture top-of-wallet status from consumers looking for card products that also function as budgeting tools.