We built a feature into Marqeta to avoid this. Here’s how to activate it:

1. Once you’re logged in at Marqeta.com, visit the “my profile” page
2. On “my profile,” you’ll see an option to set up one of your funding sources as a “default overflow credit card”
3. Select the card you’d like to use, and Marqeta will automatically pass the difference through to the default card – up to $50 above your total purchase

Just three steps and you’re ready! One transaction, one card – another great benefit from Marqeta.

If you have any questions about Marqeta’s Cover the Difference feature, let us know in the comments or give us a call 1-888-4-MARQETA. We’ll be happy to walk you through it.

The post originally appeared on Mostly Mommyhood

I’ve been talking about saving money a lot lately on this blog. Well, a lot for me!

Discounts, deals, extreme couponing… I don’t know if it’s just the economy or a fad or a cultural shift or all of the above, but you can’t shake a stick without hitting an offer for a deal or discount. I first became aware of it when Groupon hit Portland, I guess about two years ago. Brian had been getting their emails for a while, but we hadn’t joined any deals. I was co-chairing the Beaux Arts Ball at the Portland Art Museum, and the week of the event we got a call from Groupon asking if we would put the event on Groupon. Tickets to this fundraiser were $125 each. Groupon wanted us to offer the tickets for $50, then they would keep $20 and the Museum would get $30. $30 a person would not even cover the cost of food & beverage at a party like that. I couldn’t understand why they would think we wanted a hundred extra people at the event that would end up costing us money. At a fundraiser!

Since then, I’ve taken advantage of a few Groupons and Living Socials etc. But I always worry about the merchant. I want to ask them if they’re getting screwed, and if getting all these extra people in their doors is really paying off in the end.

People seem to be addicted to these specials and deals, though. It’s part of our culture now, and I’m not sure we realize the value of the services or goods we’re purchasing. I’m all for saving a buck when I can, but feels like the opposite of a market bubble. A market cesspool? It can’t last because it’s not sustainable.

Along comes Marqeta, with a whole new model that works for both merchants and consumers.

Marqeta is like a multi-merchant rewards card. Think of as your Starbucks Gold Card, but for multiple merchants. You commit to spending a certain amount with various merchants, and they all give you more to spend. Some current offers in Portland:

Commit to spend $125 at Finnegan’s Toys & Gifts, get an extra $25.

Commit to spend $50 at Pizza Shmizza, get an extra $10.

And all of it is on one card! I used my card just like a debit card, and I didn’t have to worry about keeping track of coupons or printing out a piece of paper.  The Marqeta model is also good for merchants, because it’s not costing them nearly as much to make these offers. Instead of discounting, they’re just giving you more, and the fees they pay to get involved are much much lower than Groupon and friends.  I really think this thing is going far, since it’s much more sustainable in the long run than the reverse bubble/cesspool of deep deep discounts.

Here’s the challenge for us as consumers: Marqeta is so new, that your favorite grocery store, boutique, jeweler, hardware store, pet store, etc, needs to hear from you that they should join the Marqeta merchants. Tell Marqeta what merchants they should be talking to. I keep hoping for Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s!

Sign up for your card here. It’s free and easy, and you don’t have to assign a funding source until you’re ready to take an offer. Then recommend merchants. Better yet, link up your favorite merchant on their Facebook page (so the store will see it, to!).

I’m curious to hear your thoughts about this reverse market bubble, and where you want to shop with Marqeta!

Happy shopping,
~Krista

By Scott Shamberg, VP Marketing

This post originally appeared on The Huffington Post

There is always pressure this time of year. There is pressure to get that special someone the right gift and to get your shopping done early. Be sure to spend more time than usual with loved ones but at the same time don’t forget that your company wants you to participate in its holiday party. Lately, we all must be sure to wish people the proper and politically correct holiday greeting - this has become increasingly important. But is there anything more stressful this time of year than choosing the holiday card?

Holiday cards come in many forms. You know that no matter what you send, it’s going to end up on display in someone’s home for 3 weeks (just like their kid’s drawing on the fridge). Even with that knowledge, many people simply phone it in. They go to the local Hallmark shop, buy a couple boxes of pre-printed stationery, sign their names, and send them to every aunt, uncle and cousin they can think of. Low effort, low thought.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are the people who write the annual review of their family’s activities from the previous year. How many different ways can someone talk about Bob’s promotion, Sally’s trip to Europe and Billy’s first steps? Apparently, many. Anyone that creative gets special treatment when it comes to in-home display.

This doesn’t even start to tackle the thought that goes into how a business wishes their customers season’s greetings. Many of them have migrated to digital, coming up with interactive wishes that look great but can be expensive. Ah, but if you come up with a cool one you might be able to draw a sponsor. I mean, if you can sponsor the Heisman Trophy, why not a holiday card?

So, in a world where we remember birthdays via Facebook, what should our expectations be when it comes to wishing (and being wished) Happy Holidays? If someone DMs you to say “Happy Birthday,” I think that is socially acceptable. A text? Totally OK. Congratulations on the new job? Who calls for that anymore? Why do we still put the holiday season up on a pedestal?

I suggest we embrace, once and for all, the fact that society has a shorter attention span than ever. We can see the same pictures of your family online that you spend $150 on at Shutterfly to send in the mail. In fact, send me a Hipstamatic picture. It’s cooler and cheaper. Still want to write the family letter? Just send me the link. I won’t think less of you for being non-traditional. I’ll think more of you for embracing change.

#christmakwanzakah

I love the holidays. From Thanksgiving to New Years Eve, you’ll find me parading around in holiday-colored dresses and sending greeting cards, but there’s one occurrence every year that I struggle to wrap my mind around: Black Friday. After a week of reflection on this shopping binge, I still don’t get it. So I’m counting on you, dear reader, to help me understand.

When I was a younger, I gave Black Friday a chance. My mom and I decided around a decade ago that we’d make the budget go further and check out the post-Thanksgiving sales. At 3am, she shoved coffee in my 16-year-old face and dragged me to various price-slashing stores for 4 hours of 50 percent off. This marked my first and last Black Friday. Coincidentally, it also marked the start of my coffee addiction.

We were ill prepared to say the least. It was shopping combat. We were surrounded by people with battle plans who had assembled teams with the sole purpose of making it out of stores with everything they wanted. This snapped us to our senses hours after announcing what we were thankful for around our Thanksgiving meal. Maybe if we’d had a list, I’d be a Black Friday zealot today, but as it stands, I’d rather sleep in.

The shopping holiday has gotten progressively more aggressive as the years go on. According to Black Friday’s Wikipedia page, the day received its name in the ‘60s and has transformed slowly into a day when merchants open their doors closer and closer to Thanksgiving.

I’m a competitive person, which should position me to be Black Friday combat-ready. The competitive spirit of Black Friday turns shopping into a relay race: sprint to your desired object, obtain desired object, sprint to the check out, wait and repeat. While the cases are few, some consumers will literally run over each other or break out some pepper spray to get to the season’s hottest gadget. The merchants have to be just as competitive as the consumers (without stampeding or pepper spraying, of course) – and, I get it. If a consumer is going to spend $500 before 2am, merchants want a piece of that, so they keep up with each others’ opening times. So this year, Walmart, Target, Toys ‘R Us and so many other stores opened at or before midnight.

Giving your loved one the gifts they want can feel truly great, but I dream of a world where we could do our shopping after 10am. Wouldn’t buying gifts after getting the proper amount of sleep feel even better?

Maybe I’ll try again next year – I’m sure I’ll really want whatever Apple will be selling. What drives you to the stores before midnight? How can I make my own Black Friday experience better?

You Elite, A-list and Premier fliers know the answer to the question posed in the title, but the world of frequent flier status is new to me – and it’s unfolding right before my eyes. You don’t want that free in-flight wifi? The faster TSA security lane? You’re cool with taking off your shoes? I’ll happily take that perk off your hands.

As one of the resident millennials at Marqeta, I’m making my transition from the age at which points are equated to free flights to the age at which points are equated to status. Status is as valuable as free money as long as you are capable of remembering what it was like to be, well, regular. You know what I mean: boarding with group 5, leaving your carry-on bag without a home, and standing in the long security line while the special line speeds through.

I am a striver, but it’s not just the lower status levels striving. Everyone is. As soon as you commit yourself to the rewards system, you will always be trying to level-up. Just 2,000 miles until … name your poison. I’m playing a game and so are you.

By design, games are being used to get you to use your credit card more, exercise and diet more effectively, give charitably, interact more on Twitter and to declare your loyalty. In the past few years, apps like Foursquare and SCVNGR took gaming mechanics and applied them to new things – beyond your airline miles and your wallet full of punch cards. SCVNGR founder Seth Priebatschat’s keynote address at the Interactive portion of the 2011 SXSW conference predicted a world filled with games. He said that a gaming layer will be added to our world that will influence where we go and what we do, both commercially and for the social good. The characteristics that make people return to play are called gaming mechanics.

United’s Mileage Plus program uses a few of the tenants of gaming mechanics: levels, progression and scheduled rewards with fixed intervals. In short, I know where I stand in the program, I know what it takes to get to the next level and I know when and how I will be rewarded at each level.

Why are they doing this? To increase my loyalty to them. Does it work? Absolutely. I book United flights because I’m saving up my points for Economy Plus upgrades. I’m 5’5”, but I know I need that extra legroom.

In a time when everyone is gamifying, how do you choose which game to play? Is it the easiest game to win? The game with the best prizes? I choose the game that’s most relevant to my existing activity, but I’m new at this. I want to hear from you. Which game are you playing?  And which innovative games should I keep on my radar?

Checking in and checking out. We all do it. We check in at the places where we feel proud to say we’re hanging out, sipping a latte or getting a workout in. It doesn’t matter whether you’re using Facebook or Foursquare, at most of the places we’re checking in, we’re either making or spending money. Checking in just makes the flow of money more public, so you have to decide whether the location and transaction that goes along with it is worthy of sharing with your friends, colleagues and family members.

Are you proud that you got up at 5 am to get to the gym today? Are you proud that you chose to walk an extra block to support a local sandwich place for lunch? We think you should be proud of the spending choices that you’re making and that merchants should be driven to build that pride – the proud and the loyal are the best kind of customer any merchant can have. If the loyal customers aren’t willing to shout where they’re getting their shavasana on, who will?

With the idea of checking-in to the places you love in mind, we’ve created a couple of ways for you to keep up with Marqeta and as you’re on-the-go, and to help you find your way back to us if ever you’re lost. You’ve heard how many words a picture is worth, but we’d bet a map is worth at least ten times more.

You can follow our lists on Foursquare:

You can view our merchant locations on Google Maps:

We’re extremely proud of the merchants where we’re checking in, both nationally and regionally. The above map is a snapshot at our first market, Portland, but when you click through to the Map you’ll see the bigger picture. We’ll keep these maps up-to-date as we grow.

Let us know in the comments where and how you’re checking in.

(This post originally appeared on The Huffington Post)

Do you feel comfortable investing in this economy? Do you trust the stock tips your financial analyst is giving you? (No offense Michael, I trust you). My guess is probably not.

At Marqeta we talk a lot about enabling consumers to make “investments” in their favorite brands. This isn’t some marketing buzzword. We really mean investment. Pick a portfolio of your favorite brands, stores, websites and experiences – our partnership with those brands will bring you a guaranteed return.

We know that every person has a handful of things they’re passionate about. And those passions often show when we choose to spend our hard-earned money. As I sit in the coffee shop known for expansion, I look around and it’s easy to see people’s passions. Lululemon is literally the uniform for the on-the-go-mom. The Chicago winter slowly approaches, so the North Face fleece begins to make its first appearance. People pull their iPhones out and leave them on the table to serve as status badges. At a run this weekend, I found myself engaged in a discussion with two other runners about how much we love the Five Fingers. (Quick side note – I learned about the Five Fingers after reading Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. If you are a runner and have not yet read it, shame on you.)

Passion is a powerful thing. When you are passionate about something, you want people to know it. At Marqeta, we want you to be rewarded for that passion. Our core belief is that you should get more from the brands and stores you love than just the merchandise you walk out with – you should get recognition, status and value.

So, more and more, I find myself coming back to the idea of not only getting more at your favorite places, but also investing in them. With that I give you a homework assignment: put together a portfolio of the brands you might like to invest in. I’m not talking about the market or what you heard the trader say on the train this morning. Do it based on where you know you’ll shop and spend. When you’re finished, think about how much that portfolio could be worth and compare that number to you current investment portfolio. Which is worth more? Share that with us here or on Facebook. We want to know how powerful your passion is.

The life of a company has many milestones, some major and some minor. The launch is major. It’s the beginning.

A year and half ago we started with the idea that the act of committing money to a merchant up front, before taking possession of any goods or services, should be rewarded. We also believe that your reward should be more than simply those goods and services – more value, more choice, more recognition and more money. That idea is now building into a movement that Marqeta will lead: the true enablement of online-to-offline commerce.

Thank you to our friends, family, business partners, investors, beta testers, merchant partners, consumers and anyone that helped us along the way. We couldn’t have accomplished all that we have to date without your efforts. We are thrilled to be on this wild ride with you.

Please talk about Marqeta with your friends, family, co-workers, Facebook friends, Twitter followers and/or any stranger who is interested in getting more. We hope our belief that commitment deserves reward will resonate with you as much as it resonates with us.

Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory is one of my favorite movies of all time. I still watch it after flipping through channels late at night or if my kids want to pop in the DVD. No matter how many times you watch it, you’re always so excited for Charlie.

It’s a film full of great moments, none better than when Charlie unwraps his Wonka bar to discover he’s found the last Golden Ticket. Charlie doesn’t have the easiest life. He’s the underdog. Everybody love’s the underdog.

In that scene, you see the pure delight on his face, the realization that he has something special that only a handful of other people have. Hoping to bring that moment of awe to our launch market, Portland, we’re announcing the Golden Marqeta Card.

Two lucky winners in each of our launch markets will receive a Golden Marqeta Card instead of green. Those two cards will come pre-loaded with $1,000 to be spent at any Marqeta merchant.

If you’re in Portland, make sure you register at www.marqeta.com/portland starting November 1. You can also check out the details of the Golden Marqeta Card on our Facebook page. We can’t wait to find out who our Gold Marqeta cardholders are. Thank you for your support and best of luck!