NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase ( JPM )

and Walmart ( WMT ) are partnering to speed up payments for

merchants that sell items through the retail giant's website.

The pairing will allow merchants on Walmart's ( WMT ) marketplace

platform to accept and make payments, while managing cash flow

using JPMorgan's ( JPM ) systems, said Lia Cao, head of embedded finance

and solutions at the largest U.S. bank.

Walmart ( WMT ) sells more than 700 million items from 100,000

sellers on its marketplace platform, including beauty products,

clothing, home furnishings and electronics. Marketplace sales

grew 40% in the fourth quarter, it said.

Companies have been increasingly using so-called embedded

finance software to offer financial services directly to

customers and businesses.

More than $2 trillion of transaction volume will shift to

marketplace platforms and away from traditional retailers and

resellers, according to a McKinsey report.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) sees the move as a growth opportunity, Cao said. It

already has over 20 clients in embedded finance partnerships and

expects that to double in the next year, she said.

The partnership with Walmart ( WMT ) is only available for U.S.

merchants, but the firms are in talks to expand the service into

Europe and other regions, Cao said.