Tag: Visa Inc

Mastercard expands cryptocurrency services with wallets, loyalty rewards, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Personal Finance

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Mastercard Inc said on Monday it would allow partners on its network to enable their consumers to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency using a digital wallet, as well as reward them with digital currencies under loyalty programs.

The credit card giant said it would offer these services in partnership with Bakkt Holdings Inc, the digital assets platform founded by NYSE-owner Intercontinental Exchange.

Founded in 2018, Bakkt went public earlier this year through a $2.1 billion merger with a blank-check company. Shares of the company were up 77% at $16.19 on Monday.

Mastercard said its partners can also allow customers earn and spend rewards in cryptocurrency instead of loyalty points.

The company had said in February https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currency-mastercard-idUSKBN2AA2WF it would begin offering support for some cryptocurrencies on its network this year.

Last year, rival Visa Inc had partnered https://www.reuters.com/article/us-blockfi-crypto-currency-visa-idUSKBN28B603 with cryptocurrency startup BlockFi to offer a credit card that lets users earn bitcoin on purchases.

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, touched a record high of $67,016 last week after the debut of the first U.S. bitcoin futures-based exchange traded fund. It has more than doubled in value this year.



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Visa to acquire Currencycloud at 700 million pounds valuation, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Personal Finance

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Visa Inc said on Thursday that it had agreed to buy British cross-border payments provider Currencycloud at a valuation of 700 million pounds ($962.01 million).

Visa has been a Currencycloud shareholder since 2020, and the financial consideration will be reduced by the equity that the card network company already owns in the startup, the company said.

Launched in 2012, Currencycloud facilitates cross-border payments for nearly 500 banking and technology companies, including well-known European fintechs Klarna, Monzo, Starling and Revolut. Since its launch it has moved more than $75 billion in payments to over 180 countries.

The deal comes less than a month after Visa announced it had agreed a 1.8 billion euro ($2.2 billion) takeover of European open banking platform Tink.

The aggressive acquisition strategy is part of Visa’s push to diversify revenues beyond credit card payments, where it is one of the world’s dominant players. Card companies have been facing increased pressure from regulators on fees, especially in Europe.

“The acquisition of Currencycloud is another example of Visa executing on our network of networks strategy to facilitate global money movement,” Colleen Ostrowski, Visa’s Global Treasurer, said in a statement.

Currencycloud will maintain its management team and continue to operate from its London headquarters. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Other Currencycloud backers included BNP Paribas SA, SBI Group, Siam Commercial Bank, Sapphire Ventures, Notion Capital and GV, formerly Google Ventures. ($1 = 0.7276 pounds)



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RBL, Yes Bank, Bajaj Finserv most impacted by RBI curbs on Mastercard, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

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New Delhi, After the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) restricted Mastercard from on-boarding new customers, among the credit card issuers, including co-brand partners, RBL Bank, Yes Bank and Bajaj Finserv are the most impacted as their entire card schemes are allied with Mastercard.

Japanese brokerage Nomura said in a note that these three entities are the most impacted by the RBI move.

HDFC Bank has 60 per cent of its card schemes tied to Mastercard, Amex and Diners, while for Axis Bank and ICICI Bank, this is about 35-36 per cent.

“That said, we don’t know the individual card schemes’ contribution to the overall profitability of the issuers to assess the potential impact,” it added.

HDFC Bank is already restricted from issuing new cards, and hence is not incrementally impacted. On the other hand, Kotak’s card portfolio is entirely allied to Visa and hence it won’t face any issues.

The managements of both Axis Bank and ICICI Bank have in the recent past talked about their cobranded cards with Flipkart and Amazon, respectively, to be the fastest-growing card schemes. These card schemes are 14 per cent and 15 per cent of outstanding cards for Axis and ICICI, respectively.

While the Amazon ICICI card is allied to Visa, the Flipkart Axis card is allied to Mastercard, and hence is a potential medium-term risk, should the current status-quo continue, Nomura said.

The RBI on Wednesday restricted Mastercard Asia/Pacific Pte Ltd from onboarding new customers across all its card products (debit, credit and prepaid) from July 22, 2021.

The RBI had earlier put similar restrictions on both American Express Bank (Amex) and Diners Club International (Discover Financial Services).

“This leaves only Visa Inc and homegrown NPCI’s RuPay as payment providers under no restrictions currently. We don’t know if Visa has fulfilled all the requirements of data localisation as envisaged in the Storage of Payment System Data circular of the RBI,” Nomura said.

“In the near term, we don’t foresee any material impact on card issuers (especially credit card issuers), but there could be a medium-term impact if this situation persists,” it added.



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Visa says spending on crypto-linked cards topped $1 bn in first half this year, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Personal Finance

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Visa Inc said on Wednesday its customers spent more than $1 billion on its crypto-linked cards in the first half of this year, as the payments processor takes steps to make crypto transactions smoother.

The company said it was partnering with 50 cryptocurrency platforms to make it easier for customers to convert and spend digital currencies at 70 million merchants worldwide.

The move is in line with Visa‘s broader acceptance of digital currencies. In March, the company announced it will allow the use of the USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network.

Investor sentiment on cryptocurrencies has somewhat soured recently, with regulatory crackdowns in China and elsewhere. Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, has seen a punishing slide following the euphoria earlier this year which took it to record highs.

However, a clutch of high profile names are continuing to strengthen their involvement with the digital assets. Last week, Japan’s investment giant SoftBank Group Corp invested $200 million in Mercado Bitcoin, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Latin America.

Wells Fargo & Co said in May it would onboard an actively managed cryptocurrency strategy for its wealthy clients, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc launched a crypto trading team the same month.



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