Visa Announces Big Plans for Crypto Services in Brazil
Multi-national payments and credit card giant Visa is bringing cryptocurrency solutions to traditional banking platforms in Brazil. In an announcement made on Monday the company disclosed that it is working with several crypto businesses in the country to bring cryptocurrency payment cards to the market. It also hinted at Bitcoin (BTC) integration, to be used in payments.
The plans were revealed by Visa’s vice president of new business in Brazil, Eduardo Abreu, who said that the company has plans to develop applications (APIs) to unite traditional banks with cryptographic products. By doing so, investments in cryptocurrencies and ETFs will no longer need intermediaries and can be done within banking platforms.
In an effort to issue cryptocurrency cards, Visa is collaborating with several companies in the country, however no timeline was given. Among their partners are Zro Bank, Alterbank, and Rippio.
Visa is also working on a business-to-business (B2B) oriented blockchain. The system, that is already in testing, will allow payment settlement among companies using smart contracts. According to Abreu, there will be more news on this project in the near future. Using smart contracts and blockchain will bring enhanced transparency in payments among providers and suppliers, the VP said.
BTC direct payments
Perhaps most exciting of all is that Visa also said they will start testing direct Bitcoin payments. Bitcoin can then be transferred to other accounts directly, whereas currently most crypto cards currently need an intermediary that exchanges Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for fiat. The functionality was already announced in March of this year with expected implementation this year.
Noting that Visa has already acknowledged NFTs by securing their own Cryptopunk for $165,000 in Ethereum this August, Abreu said that NFTs are also within scope of developments in the country.
Visa’s has made it their obvious strategy to establish stronger ties in the crypto space.. Not too long ago Chief Executive officer Alan Murray said that the possibility is there for cryptocurrencies to become “extremely mainstream” in five years.
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Source: igaming
