A top executive of the California-based financial service firm revealed plans to introduce crypto payment cards in the region
Global payment solutions firm Visa has announced that it plans to launch and implement the integration of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies into its platform in Brazil. The new operating model would eliminate intermediaries, thus enabling users to invest in crypto and associated exchange-traded funds (ETFs) directly.
In an interview with a local newspaper in Brazil, the company’s deputy head of new business, Eduardo Abreu, revealed that the planned move would see the company advance towards establishing crypto assets as stores of value and payment methods. Abreu noted that to achieve these greater levels of adoption, an environment where crypto and fiat money could interact freely needed to be created.
The region is primed for the change
While pushing for the interoperability of crypto and fiat, Abreu added that just as in other transactions, users ought to be able to receive any cashback in the form of crypto.
“Brazilians already have the culture of receiving card points, miles, discounts, etc. Why not receive cryptocurrencies with their credit card as well?”
The idea of integration is not really new given that Fernando Teles, the CEO of Visa in Brazil, brought it up in March. At the time, he talked about using an application programming interface (API) to implement tokenised payments. The payments company was already eyeing collaborations with digital banks to achieve the integration.
Having already laid the groundwork courtesy of partnerships with financial institutions in Brazil, including Rippio, Alterbank and Zro Bank, Visa is well-positioned to implement the new strategy. It intends to leverage its relationship with these companies to offer credit cards linking customer accounts to crypto exchanges and other similar firms in the financial landscape.
B2B blockchain to improve transparency in the NFT space
Abreu further detailed that the company was also working on establishing a blockchain-based alternative that would be used to settle transactions in business-to-business (B2B) settings. He noted that such a system would offer a significant push towards achieving transparency as all parties involved in the transaction would be able to validate it.
The vice president of new business also touched on the subject of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). According to Abreu, last month’s $150,000 purchase of a CryptoPunk was only part of a growing venture by Visa into the NFT space, as Visa Brazil is working on a soon-to-be-launched NFT initiative.
As explained by Visa’s Cuy Sheffield late last month, the CryptoPunk purchase had been executed with the intention of understanding the whole process of purchase to put the company in a good position to deal with clients in the future.