Visa has recorded massive growth with its crypto payments. The payments giants had been one of the first to step into the crypto space to take advantage of the unique payments capabilities of blockchain technology. Between the time the company first announced its move into the blockchain and now, it has grown its offering widely with its crypto cards accepted by thousands of merchants worldwide.
Visa’s growth in this time shows the promise of crypto payments, as well as that of blockchain technology. Its numbers in the fiscal first quarter of 2022 have come out to the tune of $2.5 billion as adoption grows worldwide.
Visa Setting The Stage
In a recent earnings call, Visa updated its stakeholders on how the crypto cards are faring in the market. These cards which can be spent in a variety of ways are used by the cardholders to pay for retail goods and services, as well as restaurants and for travel, CFO Vasant Prabhu told CNBC. In just the first month of 2022 alone, the amount spent by cardholders had almost doubled.
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This $2.5 billion number recorded in the first fiscal quarter by the company came out to about 70% of all of the volume done in the fiscal year of 2021. Prabhu explained that the ways customers were spending with their cards were not concentrated as might be expected. Instead, they are using their cards to pay for a variety of things.
“Looking at the broad categories of spend, we don’t see the volume concentrated in a specific merchant vertical with these programs,” the CFO said. “People are using their crypto-linked cards to spend in a variety of ways — retail goods and services, restaurants, travel. They’re increasingly being treated like a general purpose account.”
The recent volatility that has rocked the market had not affected the rate at which Visa’s crypto cards were being used, Prabhu said. Instead, Visa had continued to record growing use even as the volatility has worsened.
Big Partnerships In Crypto
Following its big reveal with its crypto card volumes, Visa has taken another step towards expanding its reach in the crypto market. This time around, the payments giant is going after crypto exchanges and platforms, of which it has made more than 65 partnerships in the space.
The company recognizes the potential that crypto payments presents and is continuing to enable new ways to pay for its customers.
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Visa CEO Al Kelly noted this in a recent conference where he presented the company’s strategy going forward. It continues to provide ways for players in the crypto space to connect seamlessly with fiat and its newly announced partnership will help it achieve this.
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“We’re also providing on-ramps for crypto players creating connectivity with fiat economies,” Kelly said. “There are over 65 crypto platforms and exchanges that have partnered to issue Visa credentials.”
Visa does not yet hold any crypto on its balance sheet and has never expressed that it will do so. However, the company continues to make strides in the crypto space towards making crypto payments a mainstream service.
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