MasterCard To Allow Banks Provide Digital Currency Services

Mastercard Inc in a bid to provide a seamless process for banks to offer crypto currency rewards on their credit and debit cards, is integrating the digital currencies payment system.

As part of Mastercard’s recent adoption of the crypto payment system, banks registered on its global payment network will be able to provide cryptocurrency rewards on credit and debit cards, give reward points on purchases, while allowing it to be paid out in cryptocurrency.

In the new development, consumers will have the opportunity to convert their crypto holdings to allow them pay for purchases, while also being able to hold digital assets through custodial wallets on Bakkt’s platform.

While announcing the integration, Mastercard Executive Vice-President of Digital Partnerships, Mr. Sherri Haymond said:

“Together with Bakkt and grounded by our principled approach to innovation, we’ll not only empower our partners to offer a dynamic mix of digital assets options, but also deliver differentiated and relevant consumer experiences.”

The company had earlier in the year announced it would begin to allow its cardholders to make specific cryptocurrencies transactions on its network, while it also said in July that it was collaborating with crypto and digital assets startups to give cryptocurrencies wider acceptance by the teeming consumers.

The Mastercard partnership with crypto firm, Bakkt will significantly expand access to crypto adoption with Bakkt which just publicly  began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on October 18^th announcing that there are presently more than 2.8 billion active MasterCards and more than 22,000 banks and financial institutions on its network.

According to Mastercard, the partnership is inspired from consumers need seeking to use crypto assets for everyday purchases, with more financial institutions establishing footprints within the crypto industry such as offering trading access to high-end clients and funding blockchain projects. But Mastercard fell short of specifying the cryptocurrencies it will allow for use on its network.

“Together with Bakkt and grounded by our principled approach to innovation, we’ll not only empower our partners to offer a dynamic mix of digital assets options, but also deliver differentiated and relevant consumer experiences,” Sherri Haymond, executive vice president of digital partnerships at MasterCard, said in a statement.

With the new development, customers do not need to go through the stress and hassle of first converting their crypto assets into physical currencies before they can make payments. But it remains to be seen if major digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum will be the first to be integrated.