# Marqeta, Inc. (MQ) FY 2022 MD&A

Verbatim Item 7 Management's Discussion and Analysis from Marqeta, Inc.'s 10-K for fiscal year 2022.

SEC filing source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1522540/000152254023000015/mq-20221231.htm
Accession: 0001522540-23-000015
Filing date: 2023-02-28
Report date: 2022-12-31
Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary.
Confidence: high

Company profile: /company/MQ/
All MD&A years: /company/MQ/mda/
Previous year: /company/MQ/mda/fy2021/ (FY 2021)
Next year: /company/MQ/mda/fy2023/ (FY 2023)

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. As discussed in the section titled “Note About Forward Looking Statements,” our actual results may differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth under the section titled “Risk Factors” under Part I, Item 1A.

A discussion regarding our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 is presented below. A discussion regarding our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 can be found in “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the SEC on March 11, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Overview

Marqeta’s modern card issuing platform empowers our customers to create customized and innovative payment cards, giving them the ability to build more configurable and flexible payment experiences. We serve customers in multiple industry verticals including on-demand services, lending (including BNPL financing), expense management, disbursements, online marketplaces, and digital banking. Before the rise of modern card issuing, issuing cards was slow, complex, and subject to mistakes. Marqeta helps solve these problems. Our platform, powered by open APIs, enables businesses to develop modern, frictionless payment card experiences for consumer and commercial use cases.

Our modern architecture allows for flexibility, a high degree of configurability, and accelerated product development, democratizing access to card issuing technology. It also enables us to rapidly expand our platform’s functionality, creating added value for our customers.

See the section titled “Business” under Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion of our business, products, business model, and trends.

Impact of Macroeconomic Factors

We are unable to predict the impact macroeconomic factors, including the military action against Ukraine launched by Russia, ongoing supply chain shortages, higher inflation and interest rates, and other global economic conditions, will have on our processing volumes, and on our future results of operations. A deterioration in macroeconomic conditions could increase the risk of lower consumer spending, consumer and merchant bankruptcy, insolvency, business failure, higher credit losses, foreign currency fluctuations, or other business interruption, which may adversely impact our business. We continue to monitor the situation and may take actions that alter our operations and business practices as may be required by federal, state, or local authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our customers, vendors, and employees.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the U.S. economy and the markets in which we operate. Various governmental measures to slow and control the spread of COVID-19 have led to uncertainty related to the labor market, inflation, and fiscal and monetary policy responses. Businesses continue to face difficulty in meeting consumer demand, and certain portions of the global supply chain remain challenged by shortages and delays.

See the section titled “Risk Factors” under Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion of the possible impact of these macroeconomic factors on our business.

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Key Operating Metric and Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We review a number of operating and financial metrics, including the key operating metric set forth below, to help us evaluate our business and growth trends, establish budgets, evaluate the effectiveness of our investments, and assess operational efficiencies. In addition to the results determined in accordance with GAAP, the following table sets forth a key operating metric and non-GAAP financial measures that we consider useful in evaluating our operating performance.

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Total Processing Volume (TPV) - TPV represents the total dollar amount of payments processed through our platform, net of returns and chargebacks. We believe that TPV is a key operating metric and a principal indicator of the market adoption of our platform, growth of our brand, growth of our customers' businesses and scale of our business.

Adjusted EBITDA - Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure that is calculated as net income (loss) adjusted to exclude depreciation and amortization; share-based compensation expense; payroll tax related to share-based compensation; acquisition related expenses which consists of due diligence costs related to potential acquisitions, and transaction costs, integration costs and amortization of intangible assets related to successful acquisitions; income tax expense (benefit); and other income (expense) net, which consists of changes in the fair value of redeemable convertible preferred stock warrant liabilities (for periods prior to the IPO), realized foreign currency gains and losses, interest income from our marketable securities, our share of equity method investments’ profit or loss, impairment of equity method investments or other financial instruments, and gain from sale of equity method investments. We believe that adjusted EBITDA is an important measure of operating performance because it allows management and our board of directors to evaluate and compare our core operating results, including our operating efficiencies, from period to period. Additionally, we utilize adjusted EBITDA as an input into our calculation of our annual employee bonus plans. See the section below titled “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a discussion of the use of non-GAAP measures and a reconciliation of net loss to Adjusted EBITDA.

Adjusted EBITDA Margin - Adjusted EBITDA Margin is a non-GAAP financial measure that is calculated as Adjusted EBITDA divided by net revenue. This measure is used by management and our board of directors to evaluate our operating efficiency. See the section below titled “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a discussion of the use of non-GAAP measures and a reconciliation of net loss to Adjusted EBITDA Margin.

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Non-GAAP operating expenses - Non-GAAP operating expenses is a non-GAAP financial measure that is calculated as total operating expenses adjusted to exclude depreciation and amortization; share-based compensation expense; payroll tax related to share-based compensation; and acquisition related expenses which consists of due diligence costs related to potential acquisitions, and transaction costs, integration costs and amortization of intangible assets related to successful acquisitions. We believe that non-GAAP operating expenses is an important measure of operating performance because it allows management and our board of directors to evaluate and compare our core operating results, including our operating efficiencies, from period to period. See the section below titled “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a discussion of the use of non-GAAP measures and a reconciliation of total operation expenses to non-GAAP operating expenses.

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Components of Results of Operations

Net Revenue

We have two components of net revenue: platform services revenue, net and other services revenue.

Platform services revenue, net. Platform services revenue includes Interchange Fees, net of Revenue Share and other service-level payments to customers. Platform services revenue also includes processing and other fees. Interchange Fees are earned on card transactions we process for our MxM customers and are based on a percentage of the transaction amount plus a fixed amount per transaction. Interchange Fees are recognized when the associated transactions are settled.

Revenue Share payments are incentives to our MxM customers to increase processing volumes on our platform. Revenue Share is generally computed as a percentage of the Interchange Fees earned or processing volume and is paid to our MxM customers monthly. Revenue Share payments are recorded as a reduction to revenue. As MxM customers' processing volumes increase, the rates at which we share revenue generally increase.

Processing and other fees are priced as either a percentage of processing volume or on a fee per transaction basis and are earned when payment cards are used at automated teller machines or to make cross-border purchases, and under our PxM agreements. Minimum processing fees, where customers' processing volumes fall below certain thresholds, are also included in processing and other fees.

Platform services revenue is recognized as Marqeta satisfies our performance obligations which typically aligns with the period when volumes and transactions are processed.

Other services revenue. Other services revenue primarily consists of revenue earned for card fulfillment services. Card fulfillment fees are generally billed to customers upon ordering card inventory and recognized as revenue when the cards are shipped to the customers.

Costs of Revenue

Costs of revenue consist of Card Network fees, Issuing Bank fees, and card fulfillment costs. Card Network fees are equal to a specified percentage of processing volume or a fixed amount per transaction routed through the respective Card Network. Issuing Bank fees compensate our Issuing Banks for issuing cards to our customers and sponsoring our card programs with the Card Networks and are equal to a specified percentage of processing volume or a fixed amount per transaction. Card fulfillment costs include physical cards, packaging, and other fulfillment costs.

We have separate marketing and incentive arrangements with Card Networks that provide us with monetary incentives for establishing customer card programs with, and routing volume through, the respective Card Network. The amount of the incentives is generally determined based on a percentage of the processing volume or the number of transactions routed over the Card Network. We record these incentives as a reduction of Card Network fees included in costs of revenue. Generally, as processing volumes increase, we earn a higher rate of monetary incentives from these arrangements, subject to attaining certain volume thresholds during an annual measurement period. For certain incentive arrangements with an annual measurement period, the one-year period may not align with our fiscal year. Additionally, unusual fluctuations in Card Network fees can occur in the quarter in which volume thresholds are attained as higher incentive rates are applied to volumes over the entire measurement periods, which can span six or twelve months.

Operating Expenses

Compensation and Benefits. Compensation and benefits consist primarily of salaries, employee benefits, incentive compensation, contractors’ cost and share-based compensation.

Technology. Technology consists primarily of third-party hosting fees, software licenses, and hardware purchases below our capitalization threshold, and support and maintenance costs.

Professional Services. Professional services consist primarily of consulting, legal, audit, and recruiting fees.

Occupancy. Occupancy consists primarily of rent expense, repairs, maintenance, and other building related costs.

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Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization consist primarily of depreciation of our fixed assets.

Marketing and Advertising. Marketing and advertising consist primarily of costs of general marketing and promotional activities.

Other Operating Expenses. Other operating expenses consist primarily of insurance costs, indemnification costs, employee travel-related expenses, employee training costs, indirect state and local taxes, and other general office expenses.

Other Income (Expense), net

Other income (expense), net consists primarily of interest income from our marketable securities, gain from from sale of equity method investments, impairment of equity method investments or other financial instruments, equity method investment share of loss, realized foreign currency gains and losses, and changes in the fair value of the redeemable convertible preferred stock warrant liabilities (for periods prior to the IPO).

Income Tax Expense

Income tax expense consists of U.S. federal and state income taxes, and U.K. and Australia income taxes. We maintain a full valuation allowance against our U.S. federal and state net deferred tax assets as we have concluded that it is not more likely than not that we will realize our net deferred tax assets.

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Results of Operations

The following table sets forth our results of operations for the periods presented:

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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

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Comparison of the Fiscal Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

Net Revenue

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","","Year Ended December 31,"],["(dollars in thousands)","","2022","","2021","","$ Change","","% Change"],["Net revenue:"],["Total platform services, net","","$","725,629","","$","502,296","","$","223,333","","","44","%"],["Other services","","22,577","","14,879","","7,698","","","52","%"],["Total net revenue","","$","748,206","","$","517,175","","$","231,031","","","45","%"],["Total Processing Volume (TPV) (in millions)","","$","166,260","","$","111,133","","$","55,127","","","50","%"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Total net revenue increased by $231.0 million, or 45%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, of which $173.0 million was generated by Block, including Afterpay starting February 1, 2022 following the completion of its acquisition by Block. The increase in net revenue was primarily driven by a 50% increase in TPV, partially offset by unfavorable changes in our card program mix, particularly the growth of our PxM offering, compared to the same period in 2021. Other services revenue increased $7.7 million, or 52%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 due primarily to the increase in card fulfillment revenue.

The increase in TPV was mainly driven by growth across all our major verticals, particularly financial services, and PxM customers. The growth in TPV for our top five customers, as determined by their individual TPV in each respective period, was 50% for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. This growth was mirrored by a 46% increase in TPV from all other customers for the same period. Note that the top five customers may differ between the two periods.

Costs of Revenue and Gross Margin

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Costs of revenue increased by $142.7 million, or 50%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily due to increased Card Network fees as the result of the 50% increase in TPV and 51% increase in the number of corresponding transactions. Network fees are presented net of monetary incentives from Card Networks for processing volume through the respective Card Networks during the period.

Card Network fees, net increased $135.8 million, or 56% in the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 and reflect an amendment to one of our Card Networks incentive arrangements that was executed in the third quarter of 2021. This increase was due to a 50% increase in TPV and a decrease in Card Networks incentives mainly due to the timing of annual cumulative incentives for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.

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Issuing Bank fees increased $2.9 million, or 11%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, as a result of an amendment to one of our Issuing Banks’ arrangements that was executed in the third quarter of 2021. Issuing Bank fees are typically determined based on volume tiers; as our processing volumes grow, these fees as a percentage of processing volume decline.

As a result of the increases in net revenue and costs of revenue discussed above, our gross profit increased by $88.3 million, or 38%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. Our gross margin decreased to 43% during the year ended December 31, 2022 from 45% during the year ended December 31, 2021.

Operating Expenses

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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Compensation and benefits expenses increased by $97.0 million, or 30%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, predominately due to the $78.9 million increase in salaries, bonus, benefits, and payroll taxes driven by the increase in average headcount, and the increase in compensation rates. Our headcount has increased to 966 employees as of December 31, 2022 from 789 employees as of December 31, 2021.

Compensation and benefits expenses also increased in the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 due to a $18.1 million increase in share-based compensation expense, mainly because of the increase in our headcount and the Executive Chairman Long-Term Performance Award as detailed in the table below:

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[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Technology expenses increased by $18.7 million, or 56%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was due to higher third-party hosting costs to support our continued growth and higher software licensing costs as we added headcount and implemented new internal systems and tools.

Professional services expenses increased by $5.0 million, or 27%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was due to the increase in consulting, accounting, and legal fees.

Occupancy expense remained relatively flat for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 as most of our employees and service providers continue to work remotely.

Depreciation and amortization remained relatively flat for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021.

Marketing and advertising expenses increased by $1.7 million, or 75%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily related to conferences, trade shows, and brand awareness investments to further grow our customer base.

Other operating expenses increased by $13.0 million, or 96%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 primarily as a result of an indemnification cost of $5.9 million, and an increase in insurance and travel costs of $5.2 million.

Other Income (Expense), Net

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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Other income (expense), net increased by $27.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 primarily due to an increase of $19.1 million in interest income earned on our marketable securities portfolio and other cash deposit balances, a gain of $17.9 million from the sale of the Company’s equity method investment in a private company, offset by an impairment of $11.6 million of an option to purchase the remaining equity interests in an equity method investee.

Customer Concentration

We generated 71% and 69% of our net revenue from our largest customer, Block, during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

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Quarterly Results of Operations

The following tables set forth selected unaudited consolidated quarterly statements of operations data for each of the eight fiscal quarters ended December 31, 2022. The information for each of these quarters has been prepared on the same basis as the audited annual consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and, in the opinion of management, includes all adjustments, which consist only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair presentation of the results of operations for these periods. The Company adopted ASU No. 2016-13, Financial instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments as of December 31, 2022 upon the loss of ”emerging growth company” status, with an effective date of January 1, 2022, using a modified retrospective approach. The adoption did not have a material impact on the quarterly results previously reported in fiscal year 2022. In the fourth quarter of 2021, we reclassified contractor costs from professional services to compensation and benefits and all statements of operations below have been adjusted to conform to this new presentation. This data should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this annual report. These quarterly results are not necessarily indicative of our results of operations to be expected for any future period.

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Three Months Ended"],["","Dec 31, 2022","","Sep 30, 2022","","Jun 30, 2022","","Mar 31, 2022","","Dec 31, 2021","","Sep 30, 2021","","Jun 30, 2021","","Mar 31, 2021"],["","(in thousands)"],["Net revenue","$","203,805","","","$","191,621","","","$","186,678","","","$","166,102","","","$","155,414","","","$","131,512","","","$","122,266","","","$","107,983"],["Costs of revenue","116,681","","","111,519","","","108,629","","","91,376","","","79,615","","","72,438","","","75,291","","","58,126"],["Gross profit","87,124","","","80,102","","","78,049","","","74,726","","","75,799","","","59,074","","","46,975","","","49,857"],["Operating expenses:"],["Compensation and benefits","110,991","","","105,887","","","97,868","","","100,348","","","88,995","","","84,462","","","97,755","","","46,904"],["Technology","14,401","","","13,422","","","13,154","","","11,384","","","11,143","","","9,299","","","7,569","","","5,626"],["Professional services","6,295","","","6,620","","","5,794","","","4,770","","","5,712","","","4,704","","","3,831","","","4,196"],["Occupancy","1,126","","","1,125","","","1,148","","","1,115","","","1,097","","","1,091","","","907","","","1,086"],["Depreciation and amortization","1,019","","","934","","","921","","","979","","","967","","","786","","","874","","","907"],["Marketing and advertising","1,862","","","688","","","886","","","559","","","804","","","490","","","495","","","495"],["Other operating expenses","5,753","","","10,922","","","4,995","","","4,843","","","4,811","","","3,880","","","3,530","","","1,295"],["Total operating expenses","141,447","","","139,598","","","124,766","","","123,998","","","113,529","","","104,712","","","114,961","","","60,509"],["Loss from operations","(54,323)","","","(59,496)","","","(46,717)","","","(49,272)","","","(37,730)","","","(45,638)","","","(67,986)","","","(10,652)"],["Other income (expense), net","28,468","","","6,333","","","1,802","","","(11,677)","","","142","","","(57)","","","(481)","","","(2,167)"],["Loss before income tax expense","(25,855)","","","(53,163)","","","(44,915)","","","(60,949)","","","(37,588)","","","(45,695)","","","(68,467)","","","(12,819)"],["Income tax expense (benefit)","471","","","5","","","(227)","","","(351)","","","(781)","","","(35)","","","87","","","19"],["Net loss","$","(26,326)","","","$","(53,168)","","","$","(44,688)","","","$","(60,598)","","","$","(36,807)","","","$","(45,730)","","","$","(68,554)","","","$","(12,838)"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

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Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Our non-GAAP measures have limitations as analytical tools and you should not consider them in isolation. These non-GAAP measures should not be viewed as a substitute for, or superior to, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. In evaluating these non-GAAP measures, you should be aware that in the future we will incur expenses similar to the adjustments in the presentation of our non-GAAP measures set forth under “Key Operating Metric and Non-GAAP Financial Measures”. There are a number of limitations related to the use of these non-GAAP measures versus their most directly comparable GAAP measures, including the following:

•other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP operating expenses differently than how we calculate this measure or not at all; this reduces its usefulness as a comparative measure;

•although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditures; and

•adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the effect of income taxes that may represent a reduction in cash available to us.

We encourage investors to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

A reconciliation of net loss to adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP operating expenses for the periods presented is as follows:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year Ended December 31,"],["","2022","","2021","","2020"],["(dollars in thousands)"],["Net revenue","$","748,206","","","$","517,175","","","$","290,292"],["Net loss","$","(184,780)","","","$","(163,929)","","","$","(47,695)"],["Net loss margin","(25)","%","","(32)","%","","(16)","%"],["Total operating expenses","$","529,809","","","$","393,711","","","$","164,994"],["Net loss","$","(184,780)","","","$","(163,929)","","","$","(47,695)"],["Depreciation and amortization expense","3,853","","","3,534","","","3,498"],["Share-based compensation expense","160,743","","","142,660","","","28,211"],["Payroll tax expense related to share-based compensation","1,977","","","1,956","","","\u2014"],["Acquisition related expenses","1,439","","","1,089","","","\u2014"],["Other expense (income), net","(24,926)","","","2,563","","","521"],["Income tax expense (benefit)","(102)","","","(640)","","","87"],["Adjusted EBITDA","$","(41,796)","","","$","(12,767)","","","$","(15,378)"],["Adjusted EBITDA Margin","(6)","%","","(2)","%","","(5)","%"],["Total operating expenses","$","529,809","","","$","393,711","","","$","164,994"],["Depreciation and amortization expense","$","(3,853)","","","$","(3,534)","","","$","(3,498)"],["Share-based compensation expense","$","(160,743)","","","$","(142,660)","","","$","(28,211)"],["Payroll tax expense related to share-based compensation","$","(1,977)","","","$","(1,956)","","","$","\u2014"],["Acquisition related expenses","$","(1,439)","","","$","(1,089)","","","$","\u2014"],["Non-GAAP operating expenses","$","361,797","","","$","244,472","","","$","133,285"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Since our inception through June 30, 2021, we financed our operations primarily through sales of equity securities and payments received from our customers. In June 2021, we completed our IPO in which we received aggregate net proceeds of $1.3 billion after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $91.6 million, and offering costs of $7.5 million.

At December 31, 2022, our principal sources of liquidity included cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaling $1.6 billion, with such amounts held for working capital purposes. At December 31, 2022, our cash equivalents and marketable securities were comprised primarily of bank deposits, money market funds, U.S. treasury securities, U.S. agency securities, commercial paper, and corporate debt securities. We have generated significant operating losses as reflected in our accumulated deficit. We expect to continue to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future.

On September 14, 2022, our board of directors authorized a share repurchase program of up to $100 million of our Class A common stock beginning September 15, 2022. Under the repurchase program, we were authorized to repurchase shares through open market purchases, in privately negotiated transactions or by other means, in accordance with applicable federal securities laws, including through trading plans under Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act. The share repurchase program has no set expiration date. As of December 31, 2022, $20.8 million remained available for future share repurchases under this repurchase program.

On February 3, 2023, the Company acquired Power Finance Inc. (Power Finance) for a purchase price of $221.9 million in cash, approximately one-third of which is payable over a two-year period subject to certain conditions. The purchase price does not include potential future earn-out amounts tied to additional performance-based goals to be achieved within the next 12 months with a maximum payout of up to $53.1 million. Power Finance’s cloud-native platform offers credit card program management services for companies creating new credit card programs. We believe that this acquisition will allow our customers to launch a wide range of credit products and constructs.

We believe our existing cash and cash equivalents, and our marketable securities will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs for more than the next 12 months. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including our planned continuing investment in product development, platform infrastructure, share repurchases, and global expansion. We will use our cash for a variety of needs, including for ongoing investments in our business, potential strategic acquisitions, capital expenditures and investment in our infrastructure, including our non-cancellable purchase commitments with cloud-computing service providers and certain Issuing Banks.

At December 31, 2022, we had $7.8 million in restricted cash which included a deposit held at an Issuing Bank to provide the Issuing Bank collateral in the event that our customers' funds are not deposited at the Issuing Bank in time to settle our customers' transactions with the Card Networks. Restricted cash also includes cash held at a bank to secure our payments under a lease agreement for our office space.

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year Ended December 31,"],["","2022","","2021","","2020"],["","(in thousands)"],["Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities","$","(12,966)","","","$","56,972","","","$","50,273"],["Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities","28,718","","","(329,121)","","","(57,562)"],["Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities","(79,487)","","","1,299,297","","","167,378"],["Net increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash","$","(63,735)","","","$","1,027,148","","","$","160,089"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

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Operating Activities

Our largest source of cash provided by our operating activities is our net revenue. Our primary uses of cash in our operating activities are for Card Network and Issuing Bank fees, and employee-related compensation. The timing of settlement of certain operating liabilities, including Revenue Share payments and bonus payments, can affect the amounts reported as net cash provided by operating activities on the consolidated statement of cash flows.

Net cash used in operating activities was $13.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to a net cash provided of $57.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2021. The net cash used in operating activities during fiscal year 2022 was due mainly to the timing of payments for costs of our services and operating expenses, partially offset by the increase in net revenue

Investing Activities

Net cash provided by investing activities consists primarily of maturities of our investments in marketable securities and sale of equity method investments. Net cash used in investing activities consists primarily of purchases of marketable securities, purchases of property and equipment, and equity method investments.

Net cash provided by investing activities was $28.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to a net cash used of $329.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2021. The net cash provided by investing activities during fiscal year 2022 was primarily due to the sale of equity method investments and the decrease in purchases of marketable securities, an equity method investment, and a purchase call option to acquire the remaining interest in the equity method investee.

Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities consists primarily of proceeds from the sale of our equity securities. Net cash used in financing activities consists primarily of net payments related to the share repurchase program, to the payment of tax withholding for RSU settlements and to payments of offering costs related to the IPO.

Net cash used in financing activities was $79.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to a net cash provided of $1.3 billion in the year ended December 31, 2021. The decrease in net cash provided by financing activities in fiscal year 2022 was primarily due to the decrease in proceeds received from our IPO, net of underwriters’ commission and discounts, and the increase in payments related to the share repurchase program.

Obligations and Other Commitments

Our principal commitments consist of obligations under our operating leases for office space and other non-cancellable purchase commitments. For additional information about our operating leases, see Note 7 to our Consolidated Financial Statements “Commitments and Contingencies — Operating Leases.”

In connection with our corporate headquarters lease, we are required to provide the landlord a letter of credit in the amount of $1.5 million. We have secured this letter of credit by depositing $1.5 million with the issuing financial institution. This deposit is classified as restricted cash in the consolidated balance sheets.

As of December 31, 2022, we had non-cancellable purchase commitments with certain service providers and Issuing Banks of $221.7 million, payable over the next 5 years. These purchase obligations include $212.6 million related to minimum commitments as part of a cloud-computing service agreement. The remaining obligations are related to various service providers and Issuing Banks processing fees over the fixed, non-cancellable respective contract terms.

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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs, and expenses, and related disclosures. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

We believe that of our significant accounting policies, discussed in Note 2 to our Consolidated Financial Statements “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” the following accounting policies involve a greater degree of judgment and complexity. Accordingly, these are the policies we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our consolidated financial condition and results of operations. Based on the Company's aggregate worldwide market value of voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2022, the Company became a “large accelerated filer” and lost emerging growth company status on December 31, 2022. Prior to December 31, 2022 we were an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act, and elected to take advantage of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, we were permitted to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different transition dates for public and private companies until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. As a result of this election, our prior financial statements may not be comparable to those of companies that comply with the accounting standards as of the public company effective dates.

Revenue Recognition

We generate revenue from providing platform services, which includes Interchange Fees and processing fees, and other services, which includes card fulfillment revenue, to our customers.

Our contracts with customers typically include two performance obligations: (i) providing access to our payment processing platform and (ii) providing card fulfillment services. Certain customer contracts require us to allocate the transaction price of the contract based on the relative stand-alone selling price of the performance obligations which are estimated using an analysis of our historical contract pricing and costs incurred to fulfill services.

We satisfy our performance obligation to provide platform services over time as customers have continuous access to our platform, and we stand ready to process customer transactions throughout their term of access. We allocate variable consideration to the distinct month in which our platform services are delivered. When pricing terms are not consistent throughout the entire term of the contract, we estimate variable consideration in customers' contracts primarily using the expected value method. We develop estimates of variable consideration on the basis of both historical information and current trends and do not expect or anticipate significant reversal of revenue in the future periods.

As the Issuer Processor for our customers, we are the principal in providing services under our contracts with customers. To deliver the services required by our customers, we contract with Card Networks for transaction routing, reporting, and settlement services and with Issuing Banks for card issuing, Card Network sponsorship, and regulatory compliance approval services. We control these integrated services before delivery to our customers, we are primarily responsible for the delivery of the services to customers, and we have discretion in vendor selection. As such, we record fees paid to the Issuing Banks and Card Networks as costs of revenue.

For certain revenue contracts, we estimate variable consideration and material rights to record each period. This requires that we estimate the expected processing volume over the term of the contract, including any additional extension of the term associated with a material right. These estimates are predominantly derived by analysis of historical trends and are updated on a quarterly basis. Changes made to these assumptions during the year ended December 31, 2022 did not have a material impact to the net revenue recorded during the year ended December 31, 2022.

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Share-Based Compensation

We measure compensation expense for all share-based payment awards, including stock options and RSUs, granted to employees, directors, and other service providers, based on the estimated fair value of the awards on the date of grant. Prior to the completion of the IPO, the most significant input in determining the fair value of a stock option was the estimated fair value of our common stock. The estimated fair value of our common stock was also used to measure the grant date fair value of RSUs granted prior to the completion of the IPO in June 2021. Additionally, prior to the completion of the IPO, the determination of whether to recognize share-based compensation expense related to secondary sales of common stock by employees or former employees required a significant amount of judgment.

Our methods to estimate the fair value of our common stock and to determine share-based compensation expense related to secondary sales of common stock prior to the completion of the IPO are discussed below.

Fair Value of Common Stock: Prior to the completion of the IPO, the Company’s board of directors considered numerous objective and subjective factors to determine the fair value of the Company’s common stock at each meeting in which awards were approved. The factors considered included, but were not limited to: (i) contemporaneous independent third-party valuations of the Company’s common stock; (ii) observed secondary sales of the Company’s common stock; (iii) rights, preferences, and privileges of the Company’s redeemable convertible preferred stock relative to those of its common stock; (iv) our actual operating and financial performance; (v) current business conditions and projections; (vi) the likelihood of achieving a liquidity event, such as an initial public offering or sale of the company, given prevailing market conditions; and (vii) precedent transactions involving the Company’s capital stock.

Subsequent to the completion of the IPO, the fair value of the Company’s common stock is determined by the closing price, on the date of grant, of its Class A common stock, which is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Secondary Sales of Common Stock. Prior to the completion of the IPO in June 2021, certain stockholders acquired outstanding common stock from current or former employees for a purchase price greater than the estimated fair value of our common stock at the time of the respective transaction. The determination of whether the excess of purchase price over the estimated fair value represents share-based compensation is highly judgmental. We determined whether secondary sales of common stock by employees and former employees resulted in share-based compensation expense by evaluating the extent of our involvement in secondary sale transactions, whether the purchaser of the shares is an existing or new stockholder, and the extent the sale price per share exceeds our estimated fair value per share. We recorded share-based compensation expense as measured as the difference between the aggregate price paid by the stockholder and our estimated aggregate fair value on the date of the transaction, and recorded $0.0 million, $11.6 million and $17.3 million during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Such amounts were recorded in compensation and benefits expense on the consolidated statements of operations.

Subsequent to the completion of the IPO, we did not record share-based compensation expense related to secondary sales of our common stock.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 to our Consolidated Financial Statements “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies—Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements”.

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