Visa has escalated its efforts to support digital currencies and is introducing products that help bridge the gap between traditional currencies and cryptocurrencies. In a recent podcast, Visa CEO Al Kelly suggested that he anticipates cryptocurrencies will become ‘extremely mainstream’ within five years. He further stated his desire to position Visa in the middle of this cryptocurrency boom.
Visa’s crypto ventures – In September 2020, Visa integrated the firm Cred into their program to allow issuance of crypto credit cards. In December 2020, Visa partnered with Wirex, which is able to issue Visa cards to its customers. The latest statement from its CEO confirms that it’s accelerating its efforts to facilitate easy access to cryptocurrencies to its users.
Visa’s Cryptocurrency Strategy
Visa is working towards two strategies in Bitcoin – one is to enable the purchase of Bitcoin on Visa credentials, and the second is to work with Bitcoin wallets so that Bitcoin can be translated into a fiat currency and utilized across Visa’s 70 million merchants.
In regards to cryptocurrencies, Kelly stated that Visa is working with 35 different players to facilitate users’ purchase of these digital currencies using their Visa credentials or to cash out onto Visa credentials to make a fiat purchase at any of the 70 million merchants.
Looking ahead – Visa wants its fair share of Bitcoin in case the cryptocurrency industry does take off on the scale that many anticipate.
Crypto, IT & Cloud 