coincodex.com
Key highlights:
- Mastercard has partnered with digital assets firm Bakkt
- Mastercard plans to give its clients the ability to offer cryptocurrency services to customers
- This will include crypto debit and credit cards, as well as cryptocurrency rewards programs
Mastercard says it will give its clients the ability to offer crypto
Financial services giant Mastercard is preparing to significantly expand its crypto offering, according to a new report from CNBC. Mastercard is reportedly planning to announce that members of its vast payments network will be able to integrate cryptocurrency into their offerings.
Mastercard’s move is part of its partnership with digital assets firm Bakkt, which was announced yesterday. The two companies plan to give merchants, banks and fintech companies the ability to offer their customers cryptocurrency services, and make it easy for them to issue crypto debit and credit cards.
In addition, the loyalty solutions offered by Mastercard will give consumers the option to earn rewards in cryptocurrency instead of loyalty points. Customers’ cryptocurrencies will be stored through custodial wallets managed by Bakkt.
Sherri Haymond, the executive VP of digital partnerships at Mastercard, said that the deal with Bakkt will bring new crypto opportunities to Mastercard’s partners:
“We want to offer all of our partners the ability to more easily add crypto services to whatever it is they’re doing. Our partners, be they banks, fintechs or merchants, can offer their customers the ability to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through an integration with the Baktt platform.”
Haymond also told CNBC that Mastercard’s clients have expressed interest in providing crypto services. One of the main reasons why clients are interested is that they will be able to retain more customers instead of losing them to cryptocurrency exchanges.
Bakkt went public on the New York Stock Exchange on October 18. The partnership with Mastercard was met with an extremely positive response from the market. Shares of Bakkt, which closed at $9.15 last Friday, are now changing hands at $45.85 in premarket trading on Tuesday.
As for Mastercard, the deal is another signal that they’re taking crypto assets very seriously. In September, Mastercard acquired blockchain analytics company CipherTrace to assist their blockchain and cryptocurrency offering. In addition, Mastercard has teamed up with companies like Wirex, Gemini and BitPay to launch crypto debit cards on the Mastercard network, which allow users to automatically convert their cryptocurrency balances into cash for payments.
Earlier in 2021, Mastercard announced plans to support selected crypto assets directly on its payments network. However, the company says that it will be very selective about which crypto assets it supports, and will be particularly focused on compliance and KYC (know your customer requirements).