In order to take cryptocurrency to over 100 million merchants globally, the world’s leading card payments company, Visa has announced that it has partnered with 65 crypto platforms.
By partnering with these crypto platforms, customers who use visa cards can pay in crypto at over 80 million merchant locations all over the world.
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Other than merchants, even 15,000 financial institutions will also be brought under crypto space, the company said.
Globally, many countries have started studying how they can bring crypto under legal status without bringing any new rules.
As there is no rule globally to accept crypto as legal tender or any form of payments, it is understood that Visa wants to route the crypto from its own end.
That means, if a user pays through a crypto card, the crypto will be calculated and will be deposited in a Visa wallet and from there a legal tender can be given to merchants of financial institutions.
It is believed that in the future when the crypto ecosystem is adopted in many countries, many merchants might also go for crypto accounts.
Speaking on this development, Visa’s head of cryptocurrencies, Cuy Sheffield, said this will help customers pay in crypto and Visa is very positive in supporting the crypto ecosystem.
So far Visa has partnered with crypto companies like Coinbase, Xapo, Wirex, Fold, Circle, BlockFi, others, as the number of merchants accepting crypto grew to almost 100 million.
Visa recently announced that crypto-lined card usage has hit $2.5 billion in the recent quarter, which is significant, as this will further increase because people are using crypto cards for making payments in restaurants, travel, and retail goods and services.
Explaining how the card works, Sheffield said that crypto cards are very easy for users to convert and spend digital currencies. Even though a merchant does not accept crypto, you can pay them by crypto card.
All conversion happens instantly and fiat is converted in crypto and vice versa and satisfies merchants and users with the service.
If a user is using an online service, it is easier and very user-friendly to use a crypto card.
Crypto experts believe that crypto-linked cards can be very useful for foreign travel, as you don’t need to carry the foreign currency, and many a time, you turn to save changes that are very frustrating. So users just need to opt for crypto cards and travel freely.
According to a global survey titled, “The Crypto Phenomenon: Consumer Attitudes & Usage” conducted by Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA) is the payments consulting advisory arm of Visa, found that early one-third of respondents have directly engaged with crypto either as an investment vehicle or as a medium of exchange. And globally, nearly 40% of crypto owners surveyed report they would be likely or very likely to switch their primary bank to one that offers crypto-related products in the next 12 months.
“Crypto represents a technological shift for money movement and digital ownership,” Terry Angelos, SVP, and global head of fintech,” Visa said.
Adding further, Angelos said, “As consumers change their approach to investing, where they bank, and their views on the future of money, every financial institution will need a crypto strategy.”
The survey was conducted on over 6000 financial decision-makers across eight markets (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong, South Africa, the U.K., and the U.S.).
The survey also found that awareness of crypto among financial decision-makers surveyed is near-universal at 94% around the world.
Even payment card network Mastercard has launched cryptocurrency-linked payments cards in the Asia-Pacific region in November 2021 citing another survey that found that 45% in APAC say they are likely to consider using cryptocurrency in the next year, higher than the global average of 40 percent.
