Payment giant Mastercard has been active recently. Acquired Cipher Trace, a crypto intelligence company, in September of this year. Cooperated with Bakkt, a digital asset platform, in October. On November 9, Mastercard announced its entry into the Asia-Pacific market, launching payment cards related to cryptocurrencies.
MasterCard Asia Pacific Development
Mastercard recently reached cooperation with three cryptocurrency service providers in the Asia-Pacific region. They are Amber Group in Hong Kong, Bitkub in Thailand and CoinJar in Australia. These companies are the first Asia-Pacific platforms to join MasterCard’s global cryptocurrency card program. This plan aims to make it easier for cryptocurrency companies to bring safe and compliant payment cards to the market more easily and quickly.
By cooperating with MasterCard, all three companies can launch MasterCard payment cards that use cryptocurrency as funds. It is also the first time consumers and companies in the Asia-Pacific region can apply for credit cards and prepaid cards related to cryptocurrency.
Although some merchants currently accept payments in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or ETH, they have not yet become popular. The MasterCard can instantly convert the user’s cryptocurrency into legal tender, and pay at any place that supports MasterCard, which greatly improves the convenience.
Strong interest in the Asia-Pacific region
According to Mastercard’s Payment Index report in May this year, nearly 45% of respondents are considering using cryptocurrency next year, which is higher than the global average of 40%. In addition, about 68% of respondents plan to reduce the use of cash, and consider trying digital or e-wallets next year.
In response to this phenomenon, Sandeep Malhotra, Executive Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Product and Innovation Asia Pacific, Mastercard said:
‘’The open attitude of consumers in the Asia-Pacific region to new technologies and innovations has been recognized globally. As more and more digital payment methods become mainstream, this trend will only continue. ‘’
CRO Visa card issue
Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency financial services company, has also cooperated with Visa to launch a CRO Visa charge card, which can also convert cryptocurrency into legal tender for payment. However, if you want to pledge a certain number of CROs for half a year, it will reduce the efficiency of fund use and suffer the risk of volatility. Moreover, there are too many applicants, and the review usually takes several months. At present, the details of the cryptocurrency card launched by MasterCard are not yet clear. It will be time to verify whether the same dilemma will be encountered in the future.
Coinbase officially listed CRO last week, and it has risen substantially by 79% so far.