Visa partners with Ethereum based startup
Visa partners with Ethereum based startup to connect 60 million merchants
Visa has partnered with Circle Internet Financial, the company behind the $2.9 billion USDC stablecoin.
The partnership will allow select her credit card issuers to integrate USDC payments, potentially availing it to 60 million merchants.
Global credit card giant Visa has partnered with Circle Internet Financial, the company behind the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin.@ She will issue a credit card that lets businesses send and receive USDC payments directly, the company revealed.
Meanwhile Visa won’t custody the stablecoin, Circle works with Visa to integrate USDC software into their platforms through partnership. Circle has joined the Visa Fast Track Program, Visa’s head of cryptocurrency Cuy Sheffield told Forbes.
The program gives fintech firms turnkey access to Visa’s ecosystem partners, APIs and market toolkits, and allows them to issue Visa credit cards. Circle itself will graduate from the Fast Track program next year, enabling Visa to issue a credit card that lets businesses send and receive USDC payments directly from any business using the card.
Sheffield remarked, “This will be the first corporate card that will allow businesses to be able to spend a balance of USDC. Also we think that this will significantly increase the utility that USDC can have for Circle’s business clients.”
The partnership will avail USDC payments to over 60 million merchants, ushering a new era of growth for the stablecoin. USDC launched in September 2018 is now the second-most valuable stablecoin after Tether. With a $2.9 billion market cap, it’s the 13th most valuable cryptocurrency in the world.
In spite of the surge in market cap, USDC’s utility in payments has been minimal. The new partnership with Visa is seeking to change this. As per her estimates, $120 trillion in payments are made annually through checks and instant wire transfers. Also these payments cost $50 each, regardless of payment size.
