Visa – Crypto-Supported Card Use Hits $1bln in 1H21

Visa has partnered with Crypto.com to provide cryptocurrency-based rewards for transacting with their credit cards. They stated in March of this year that they will take payment in USDC, a cryptocurrency.

Consumers have welcomed crypto-linked cards, as per a new survey, spending above $1 billion on products and services in the first half of 2021.

Consumers expended a fraction of this amount in the same time period in 2019. Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu said the company is striving to make cryptos more useful than any other money.

“People are looking at how they might utilize cryptos for stuff that they would normally use traditional currency for. There are several concerns with regard to price fluctuation, for example. However, it is the responsibility of cryptocurrency developers to maintain and track their assets.”

Visa has partnered with Coinbase, BlockFi, and Circle to permit cardholders to transact straight from their cryptocurrency wallets at more than 70 million retailers around the world. Visa has added the FTX cryptocurrency platform to its Fintech Fast Track Program, which aims to make cryptocurrencies more feasible for consumer and corporate transactions.

According to data, $18 trillion is transacted in cash and checks each year throughout the world. Crypto-linked cards and other forms of payment, such as QR codes and biometrics, may rule the market place in the near future. However, unlike other firms, Visa has no plans to integrate cryptocurrency to its balance sheet, according to Prabhu.

“At this time, we do not have any cryptos on our balance sheet. On our general ledger, we keep the currencies we require to conduct our business. We have currencies in which we are paid or in which we pay others. The dollar, euro, and pound are the most common examples. And we have no intentions to keep cryptocurrencies since that isn’t how we normally get compensated or pay people.”

Prabhu also revealed that the number of customers on their network had increased.

“We witness a significant number of people purchasing cryptos at these several trading platforms on our [network], and as far as we can tell, that trend is continuing.”

In recent times, Visa rival Mastercard published study findings estimating that 93% of North Americans want to use cryptocurrencies and other new payment methods such as biometrics and QR codes in the coming year.

In addition, 75% of millennials are eager to utilize cryptocurrency provided they have a better understanding of it. Mastercard has partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Gemini to allow customers to earn cryptocurrency as an incentive. Cardholders, on the other hand, will not be able to gain control over the site’s crypto wallets.