As Wirex joined the Visa network as a principal member in Europe, it will be able to offer additional services and products to its clients.
The London-based payment platform Wirex will now be able to issue Visa cards, sell new and inventive Visa-related products and apply for additional licenses. It is the second “crypto-native” firm to achieve this. This comes at a time when interest in crypto is at its peak. Increased investor interest in digital assets, use of digital payments necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic and a more favorable view by the public have been noted.
In acknowledging this, Senior Director and Head of Cryptocurrency at Visa Cuy Sheffield said:
“Digital currencies have the potential to extend the value of digital payments to a greater number of people and places. We are excited to work with innovative Fintechs like Wirex and enable their customers to use digital currencies at more than 61 million merchants on the Visa network”
Wirex services over 3 million people across the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Asia-Pacific Region. Its relationship with Visa goes as far back as 2014 when the two firms worked together to help Wirex come up with a crypto-enabled debit card. The contactless card, issued by Visa, was the first of its kind. Users of the Wirex app can buy, hold, sell and convert their crypto into fiat. Wirex is also responsible for the first crypto rewards scheme called Cryptoback.
What This Visa Membership Means to Wirex
Wirex has been in a crypto partnership with Tokyo-based financial services firm Strategic Business Innovator (SBI) Holdings since 2017. It went on to launch 26 stablecoins on the Stellar blockchain network in 2019.
Hoping to expand into the American market, the payments platform has already been issued a transmission license from the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. It also has offices in Dallas and Atlanta.
Wirex asserts a 271% increase in crypto exchanges on the platform over a 12-month period. Commenting on this, CEO and Co-Founder of Wirex Pavel Matveev had this to say:
“It’s been our core goal to unite the traditional and digital economies, and collaborations with trusted global payments companies such as Visa are making this possible by providing straight and cost-effective solutions for utilising crypto in the everyday. It’s no easy feat to achieve principal membership and will present numerous opportunities to continue developing a revolutionary product.”
With a successful crowdfunding campaign in October that generated close to $5M, a new Visa card and a future launch in the US, 2021 looks like a good year for Wirex.
Mercy Mutanya is a Tech enthusiast, Digital Marketer, Writer and IT Business Management Student.
She enjoys reading, writing, doing crosswords and binge-watching her favourite TV series.
