Payment giant MasterCard has disclosed in an online survey that more people are considering using cryptocurrency for payments of goods and services.
40% Plan To Use Crypto Next Year - MasterCard
The company had polled 15,569 consumers across 18 countries, and 40% of this group plan to use crypto in the next year.
Millennials seem to be more interested in digital currencies.
67% said they were more open to using the technology than they were a year ago, 77% of this group want to learn more about them, while 75% are open to using it if only they understood it better.
The
survey was conducted from February 26 to March 10, with consumers in four regions, including North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.
According to MasterCard, no less than 500 respondents in five of the 18 countries and at least 1,000 in the other 13 were contacted by the Harris Poll and Mastercard’s research team.
Apart from
cryptocurrency, MasterCard also disclosed that people also voted their interest in biometrics, contactless, and QR codes as a means of payment.
According to the company, people are comfortable with emerging payment technologies and would support services that require them to use less physical cash.
With connections across more than 210 countries, MasterCard is undoubtedly a global technology company in the payments industry. It was first founded 55 years ago in 1966 as Interbank Card Association but was later changed to MasterCard in 1979.
MasterCard Pushing Crypto Frontier
MasterCard has been contributing to the crypto industry for a while now. The payment company was one of the first firms to
support cryptocurrencies on its payment network.
Recently, it signed a
partnership with crypto exchange Gemini to help launch its cryptocurrency rewards credit card. The credit card would offer crypto cashback to Gemini customers every time they shop with it.
The payment network also has an interest in
aiding governments to achieve their CBDC goals. Last year, MasterCard launched a platform that allows central banks to analyze digital currencies. The platform was introduced to facilitate an environment where fintech, banks, and consumers can partner to issue, distribute, and exchange digital currencies.
Earlier in February, MasterCard collaborated with the Bahamas government, which provided the citizens with the option of
loading the country’s CBDC onto a prepaid MasterCard.
Now, the company is looking into exploring smart contract technology on
central bank digital currencies (CBDC).
MasterCard said it was examining how smart contracts can help central banks worldwide develop digital cash and push towards the realization of state-backed currencies. It is reportedly already in talks with China to explore wider cross-border usage of the digital yuan. Mastercard is awaiting final approval for licenses to start onshore card business.
bitcoinexchangeguide.com
04 May 2021 12:37, UTC