Visa Execs Discuss $1B Payment Volume Facilitated by Crypto Cards in 2021

Integrating Payment Cards and Cryptocurrencies

Akshay Chopra, Visa’s Vice President, Head of Innovation and Design, recently discussed the role of payment cards in driving the adoption of digital assets during a panel at the Blockchain Economy Dubai Summit. He highlighted the integration of conventional payment cards with cryptocurrency exchanges as a key factor in this process.

At present, it is not common to use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment for everyday items. To tackle this challenge, Visa partnered with 75 of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in 2021 to enable them to issue Visa cards. This created a network of 80 million Visa merchants that could accept customers who prefer to use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. Chopra stated:

Web3 Ecosystem and Blockchain-based Solutions

Chopra has pointed out that conventional financial institutions have the potential to benefit from the Web3 ecosystem. He believes that blockchain-based solutions could disrupt and innovate the process of payments settlement between financial institutions.

Despite the fact that traditional payment methods are still in use, they have limitations, such as not being available 24/7. Akshay has mentioned a pilot conducted with Circle, which utilized USD Coin (USDC) and allowed various cryptocurrency exchange partners to settle payments with USDC at the end of the day.

Regulations are a significant obstacle for mainstream financial institutions to make use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency-based payments. Nevertheless, Akshay believes that progressive regulatory environments, like the one in the United Arab Emirates, are more beneficial for industry participants than those in less crypto-friendly jurisdictions.

In April 2023, Visa made headlines when it released a roadmap for crypto products, aiming to facilitate the adoption of stablecoin and public blockchain payments by mainstream financial institutions. Additionally, the company has committed to investing $100 million to develop AI-driven products and services for payments and commerce through Visa Ventures.

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