Key Takeaways
- Visa is currently partnered with Coinbase, Circle and BlockFi to allow its cards to access crypto wallets on those platforms.
- Visa said digital payments such as cryptocurrency have the potential to disrupt $18 trillion of annual consumer spending with cash and checks.
Visa crypto cardholders spent over US$1 billion worth of cryptocurrency globally on goods and services in the first half of 2021, CNBC reports.
“We are doing a lot to create an ecosystem that makes crypto currency more usable and more like any other currency,” Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu told CNBC.
Vasant Prabhu said that people are exploring ways in which they can use cryptocurrencies for things they would use normal currencies for.
He also said that there are lots of issues in terms of volatility, etc. with cryptocurrency, but that’s up to the owners of cryptocurrencies to manage and track.
In March, Visa announced to enable Bitcoin across its global payment network of over 70 million merchants.
According to recent research from Visa rival Mastercard, 93% of North American consumers plan to use cryptocurrency or other emerging payment technology, such as biometrics, contactless, or QR code systems, in the next year. The study also showed that 75% of millennials would use crypto currency if they understood it better.
Circle, BlockFi and Coinbase, which went public in April on the Nasdaq, are current Visa partners that allow cardholders to spend from their cryptocurrency wallet at more than 70 million merchants globally.
Read Also: Apple Pay Enables Bitcoin and Other Crypto Payment; Google Pay, Samsung Pay To Join Soon
Visa estimated crypto-linked cards and other emerging payments including biometrics and QR code have the potential to disrupt the $18 trillion spent every year with cash and checks globally.
Visa Does Not Hold Crypto
Visa is looking confidant on the future of crypto as a mode of payment; however, the company currently does not hold cryptocurrency on its balance sheet. Vasant Prabhu, said:
“We don’t hold crypto currencies on our balance sheet today. We hold currencies on our balance sheet that we need to run our business. We hold currencies that we get paid in or we pay people in. That tends to be the dollar, euro, pound. So we don’t have plans to hold crypto currency because it’s not typically the way we get paid or the way we pay people.”
