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Mastercard Adds Crypto Consulting Service in Latest Effort to Boost Cryptocurrency Adoption

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Mastercard Adds Crypto Consulting Service in Latest Effort to Boost Cryptocurrency Adoption

Payments giant Mastercard is expanding its payments-focused consulting service to include cryptocurrency. It covers “a range of digital currency capabilities, from early-stage education, risk assessments, and bank-wide crypto and NFT strategy development to crypto cards and the design of crypto loyalty programs.”

Mastercard’s Crypto Consulting Service

Mastercard announced Tuesday the expansion of its payments-focused consulting service. Among the new practices is one dedicated to “crypto & digital currencies,” the company wrote.

Noting that it is “helping banks navigate the adoption of digital currencies,” the payments giant detailed:

Mastercard’s consulting efforts with banks and merchants cover a range of digital currency capabilities, from early-stage education, risk assessments and bank-wide crypto and NFT strategy development to crypto cards and the design of crypto loyalty programs.

“Mastercard has curated partnerships with digitally native firms that offer best-of-breed solutions in cryptocurrencies,” the company added.

Moreover, the payments company “has helped fintechs expand into new markets, working through go-to-market planning and commercialization strategies.”

Mastercard began bringing crypto onto its network in February last year. The company is focusing on developing products and services around cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

In January, Mastercard partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to make non-fungible tokens (NFTs) more accessible to everyone. Customers will be able to use their Mastercard cards to make purchases on Coinbase’s coming NFT marketplace.

What do you think about Mastercard’s crypto efforts? Let us know in the comments section below.

Mastercard Launches Crypto-Linked Payment Cards for Asia-Pacific Region

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Mastercard Launches First Crypto-Linked Payment Cards for Asia-Pacific Region

Payments giant Mastercard is launching crypto-linked payment cards for the Asia-Pacific region in partnership with three crypto service providers. “For the first time, consumers and businesses in the Asia Pacific region will be able to apply for crypto-linked Mastercard credit, debit, or prepaid cards,” Mastercard said.

First Crypto-Linked Mastercards in Asia-Pacific Region

Mastercard announced Monday that it has partnered with three crypto service providers across the Asia-Pacific region “to launch the region’s first crypto-linked payment cards.”

The three partners are Amber Group, Bitkub in Thailand, and Coinjar in Australia. All three companies offer cryptocurrency exchange services in their respective domestic markets. In partnership with Mastercard, they “will be launching crypto-funded Mastercard payment cards,” the announcement notes, adding:

For the first time, consumers and businesses in the Asia Pacific region will be able to apply for crypto-linked Mastercard credit, debit or prepaid cards.

The cards “will enable them to instantly convert their cryptocurrencies into traditional fiat currency, which can be spent everywhere Mastercard is accepted around the world.”

The three companies “are the first APAC-based cryptocurrency platforms to join Mastercard’s global Crypto Card Program which was designed to make it simpler and faster for crypto firms to bring secure, compliant payment cards to market, as consumers increasingly seek to fund everyday transactions securely and efficiently with digital currencies,” the payments giant explained, adding:

This announcement comes at a time when interest in cryptocurrencies is at an all-time high across the Asia Pacific region.

Last month, Mastercard announced that it has partnered with cryptocurrency exchange platform Bakkt “to make it easier for merchants, banks, and fintechs in the U.S. to embrace and offer a broad set of cryptocurrency solutions and services.”

What do you think about Mastercard offering crypto cards in the Asia-Pacific region? Let us know in the comments section below.

Mastercard to Enable Merchants on Its Network to Offer Crypto Products and Services

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Payments giant Mastercard has partnered with a cryptocurrency exchange to allow its partners and merchants in the U.S. to offer crypto solutions, including the buying, selling, and holding of cryptocurrencies. “We want to offer all of our partners the ability to more easily add crypto services to whatever it is they’re doing.”

Mastercard’s Network Integrates Crypto

Mastercard (NYSE: MA) and cryptocurrency exchange platform Bakkt (NYSE: BKKT) announced “a multifaceted partnership” Monday at the Money20/20 event.

The partnership aims “to make it easier for merchants, banks, and fintechs in the U.S. to embrace and offer a broad set of cryptocurrency solutions and services,” the announcement details. “Bakkt extends Mastercard’s ecosystem of cryptocurrency partners enabling crypto-as-a-service, which provides quick access to cryptocurrency capabilities.”

The two companies explained:

Mastercard partners will be able to offer cryptocurrency solutions. These include the ability for consumers to buy, sell and hold digital assets through custodial wallets powered by the Bakkt platform and streamlined issuance of branded crypto debit and credit cards.

The payments giant has relationships with more than 20,000 financial institutions worldwide, and there are 2.8 billion Mastercards in use, according to the company. An October 2019 Nilson Report states that Visa and Mastercard both had 52.9 million merchants — more than any other company worldwide.

Mastercard further revealed that crypto will also be integrated into its loyalty solutions, allowing its partners to “offer cryptocurrency as rewards and create fungibility between loyalty points and other digital assets.” The announcement adds:

This means that consumers can earn and spend rewards in cryptocurrency instead of traditional loyalty points and seamlessly convert their crypto holdings to pay for purchases.

Sherri Haymond, Mastercard’s executive vice president of digital partnerships, was quoted as saying: “We want to offer all of our partners the ability to more easily add crypto services to whatever it is they’re doing. Our partners, be they banks, fintechs, or merchants can offer their customers the ability to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through an integration with the Bakkt platform.”

Bakkt CEO Gavin Michael opined: “We’re lowering the barriers to entry, allowing people to take something like your rewards points and trade them into crypto. It’s an easy way to get going because you’re not using cash, you’re putting something that’s an idle asset sitting on your balance sheet, and we’re allowing you to put it to work.”

What do you think about Mastercard helping merchants on its network integrate crypto solutions? Let us know in the comments section below.

Mastercard Launches Global Program to Help Cryptocurrency Startups Scale Their Innovations

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Mastercard Launches Global Program to Help Cryptocurrency Startups Scale Their Innovations

Payments giant Mastercard has launched a new, global program for cryptocurrency startups. Seven crypto companies have already joined the program. Together with Mastercard, they will work to “expand and accelerate innovation around digital asset technology and make it safer and easier for people and institutions to buy, spend and hold cryptocurrencies and digital assets.”

Mastercard’s New Crypto Program

  • Mastercard announced Tuesday “a new Start Path global startup engagement program dedicated to supporting fast-growing digital assets, blockchain and cryptocurrency companies.”
  • Seven startups have already joined the program. They will work with Mastercard “to expand and accelerate innovation around digital asset technology and make it safer and easier for people and institutions to buy, spend and hold cryptocurrencies and digital assets,” the announcement details.
  • The startups include GK8, Mintable, Stacs, and Supraoracles. GK8 (Israel) is a self-managed end-to-end institutional crypto custody platform. Mintable (Singapore) is a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, Stacs (Singapore) provides a blockchain infrastructure for the financial industry, and Supraoracles (Switzerland) is a blockchain oracle.
  • The other companies that have joined the program are Taurus, Uphold, and Domain Money. Taurus (Switzerland) provides enterprise-grade infrastructure to manage any digital assets, including crypto assets, digital currencies and tokenized assets covering issuance, custody, asset servicing and trading. Uphold (USA) is a crypto investment and payment service provider for consumers and businesses, and Domain Money (USA) looks to build an investment platform to bridge the gap between digital assets and traditional finance for retail investors.
  • The Start Path program has helped more than 250 startups since 2014, the announcement notes. The program now provides crypto startups access to Mastercard’s “latest tools and solutions to help these companies scale their innovations and cutting-edge technologies.”
  • Mastercard explained: “These startups use the program to connect with our ecosystem of banks, merchants, partners and digital players across the globe to deliver new solutions.”

  • Jess Turner, executive vice president of New Digital Infrastructure and Fintech, commented that “Mastercard has been engaging with the digital currency ecosystem since 2015,” elaborating:

As a leading technology player, we believe we can play a key role in digital assets, helping to shape the industry, and provide consumer protections and security. Part of our role is to forge the future of cryptocurrency, and we’re doing that by bridging mainstream financial principles with digital assets innovations.

  • Last week, Mastercard announced an enhancement to its card program for cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges, with the aim to make it “simpler for partners to convert cryptocurrency to traditional fiat currency.”

What do you think about Mastercard’s new program for crypto startups? Let us know in the comments section below.

Mastercard Will Start Supporting Cryptocurrencies Directly on its Network

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Mastercard Will Start Supporting Cryptocurrencies Directly on its Network

Payments giant Mastercard has announced that it is preparing to allow a number of cryptocurrencies to move through its network directly. Customers, merchants, and businesses will no longer need to convert cryptocurrencies into fiat currencies to transfer through the Mastercard network.

Mastercard Prepares to Let Cryptocurrencies Move Through its Network

Mastercard announced Wednesday that it will start “bringing crypto onto its network.” In a blog post on the company’s official website, Raj Dhamodharan, Executive Vice President of Digital Asset and Blockchain, explained that “digital assets are becoming a more important part of the payments world.” He noted that customers are using Mastercards to buy cryptocurrencies, especially during bitcoin’s bull runs, elaborating:

We are preparing right now for the future of crypto and payments, announcing that this year Mastercard will start supporting select cryptocurrencies directly on our network. This is a big change that will require a lot of work.

“We will be very thoughtful about which assets we support based on our principles for digital currencies,” the executive emphasized, adding that the same standard applies to stablecoins. “We are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value,” he opined.

Dhamodharan pointed out that Mastercard is involved in a number of crypto projects, having teamed up with Wirex and Bitpay last year to create crypto cards that allow people to transact using their cryptocurrencies. The company then joined forces with crypto exchange LVL this year. “These relationships — with many more planned in the pipeline — build on our many years of crypto collaborations,” he said.

Even though Mastercard is involved in a number of crypto projects, Dhamodharan said that “cryptocurrencies still don’t move through our network. Our crypto partners convert the digital assets on their end to traditional currencies, then transmit them through to the Mastercard network.” He continued:

Our change to supporting digital assets directly will allow many more merchants to accept crypto — an ability that’s currently limited by proprietary methods unique to each digital asset. This change will also cut out inefficiencies, letting both consumers and merchants avoid having to convert back and forth between crypto and traditional [fiat currencies] to make purchases.

Lastly, Dhamodharan said that his company is “actively engaging” with several major central banks worldwide as they explore central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). “Last year, we created a test platform for these banks to use these currencies in a simulated environment,” he noted, adding that Mastercard already has “one of the payments industry’s biggest blockchain patent portfolios to draw from to make these projects successful.”

Commenting on the Mastercard news, bitcoin bull Mike Novogratz tweeted: “The Mastercard news is huge. A few months ago it would have been all the crypto community would focus on for the ensuing month. Now we are getting so much good news it almost goes unnoticed. Let me repeat. It is huge news. Crypto adoption is here.”

Recently, Mad Money host Jim Cramer said that Mastercard, along with Paypal and Elon Musk’s Tesla, is driving bitcoin more into the mainstream. Tesla revealed Monday that it has put $1.5 billion into bitcoin.

What do you think about Mastercard directly supporting cryptocurrencies on its network? Let us know in the comments section below.