Mark Weaden
Visa agrees to partnerships with 50 companies supporting the payment and conversion of cryptocurrencies
The latest move from financial giants Visa is to allow customers to convert their cryptocurrencies at a live rate, allowing them to make everyday purchases using debit cards.
These cryptocurrency-linked Visa cards are supported by some 50 companies who are pioneering crypto payments in the fintech industry. A bold move for the company and one which will no doubt turn heads in the industry. Under the new deal, customers will be able to convert and spend their digital currencies, the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum, at somewhere in the region of 70 million merchants worldwide, even if they don’t officially accept cryptocurrency as tender.
Visa had already offered customers the option to spend using crypto-linked cards earlier in the year, with customers spending a figure somewhere in the region of $1 billion already this year.
A development that will excite many crypto enthusiasts, especially as recent news of countries around the world shutting down the evolving crypto market. While it isn’t an entirely new idea, the fact that it’s backed by a global finance institution as reputable as Visa, is what makes it really exciting.
Visa will be teaming up with popular exchanges like FTX and Coinbase to create an infrastructure to support blockchain-based payments. The goal is to create a system whereby merchants don’t have to do anything, all the work will be done by Visa and its partners, allowing for a seamless transition to active crypto payment systems.
While the technical aspects of these revolutionary payment systems aren’t finalised, it would appear that the conversation from crypto to fiat and vice versa will be handled by Visa. What’s more, customers will have access to unique reward schemes when spending crypto via Visa cards—structured in a similar way to what is already in place for fiat transactions—offering air miles and hotel points.
What’s clear is that Visa wants to be at the heart of the crypto movement. The technology Visa intends to use is underpinned by the Ethereum blockchain, further embracing the value of blockchain technology in the finance sector. This isn’t Visa’s first move into the crypto industry and we don’t expect it to be their last.
