Mastercard Attracts Crypto Companies In New Crypto Card Program

Mastercard attracts crypto companies and encourages them to apply and to become partners in their newly-expanded crypto card program as we are reading further in our latest crypto news.

Mastercard attracts new companies as they said it was simplifying access to speed up the program for crypto card issuers by allowing applicants to be onboarded as partners in just a few weeks. The Accelerate program gives the partners more support with their market entry, continued growth, and international expansion. All of the partners will be assisted in integrating the technology Mastercard has and will be in a position to benefit from the company’s cybersecurity expertise and market research.

While it is streamlining access to the crypto firms program, Mastercard emphasized that all of the partners have to comply with the “core principles.” These include providing robust consumer protection, being compliant with relevant laws and regulations, and establishing a new playing field for the stakeholders such as financial institutions, mobile network operators, and merchants. Raj Dhamodharan who is the executive  vice president of digital asset and blockchain products at Mastercard said:

 “The cryptocurrency market continues to mature, and Mastercard is driving it forward, creating safe and secure experiences for consumers and businesses in today’s digital economy.”

The company also announced that London-based Wirex became the first native crypto platform to be granted a Mastercard principal membership which will allow it to issue crypto payment cards. Wirex card users will be able to convert their crypto holdings into fiat which will be spent after a sale that accepts Mastercard. The currency will then enter the network in fiat form and not a cryptocurrency.

The CEO of Wirex and also the co-founder Pavel Matveev said that the membership “represents a growing interest and recognition in the acceptance of cryptocurrency by leading bodies and regulators.” He also commented that partnering with Mastercard that will help the firm to realize the “vision of empowering everyone to experience a world where all currencies, crypto, traditional are all equal.”

Wirex is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and has a license to launch crypto credit cards in Europe. Earlier this year it hit more than 3 million active users noting that the increasing numbers of them are not “typically hardcore crypto users.” Before partnering with Wirex, Mastercard collaborated with the blockchain payments provider BitPay back in June to launch a prepaid card for crypto users in the United States.