VISA partners with Latam-based fintech players to offer crypto-enabled card

• VISA steps up its crypto efforts to bring crypto payments to its large customer base in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• VISA has partnered with some local fintech startups in Latam that offer interesting cashback offers on crypto spending.

Payments giant VISA is stepping up its efforts in offering crypto-enabled cards in Latin America and the Caribbean. As a result, VISA has partnered with several local fintech players in the Latam regions to take its efforts to fruition.

The recent development comes as VISA plans to allow its customers to use and spend their cryptocurrencies using its payments network. As said, the company has partnered with a few startups in Latam such as Satoshi Tango in Argentina and Lemon Cash. Some of the other partners also include Alterbank, Crypto.com, and Zro Bank in Brazil.

The new crypto-enabled cards from VISA include paying with crypto or purchasing crypto through VISA-enabled outlets. Besides, it also allows users to receive their cashback in Bitcoin. VISA said that its crypto efforts in Latin America are already making good progress. These new partnerships with local Latin American startups will help them present more opportunities. Romina Seltzer, Senior Vice President of Products and Innovation for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean said:

As more people and businesses in the region continue to embrace crypto innovation, we at Visa are committed to being a key partner in delivering the connectivity, scale, security and value propositions needed for the crypto offering to grow and be widely accepted.

The cryptocurrency ecosystem continues to gain momentum in the region with increased investment, more consumer adoption, and more crypto-enabled use cases, and we will continue to build on our strong strategy to build the future of crypto and payments for our customers, partners, and consumers.

VISA evolving strategy with crypto

VISA says that it is also focusing on making itself the easiest and safest way to buy and use crypto through VISA cards. The American multinational hinted that its reason behind partnering with Latam startups is to offer cash backs in crypto. Its partnership with Argentina-based Lemon Cahs is particularly in this regard.  Borja Martel Seward, co-founder of Lemon said:

In the context of Latin America, cryptocurrencies are a concrete solution to improve people’s lives. At Lemon we want to contribute to the cryptocurrency revolution throughout the region, and for this we offer a 2% cash back in Bitcoin for all purchases made with Visa credentials.

VISA shall also be working with Crypto.com for some interesting cashback benefits. Filomena Ruffa, general manager of Crypto.com for Latin America said:

Through our localized products and the expansion of our card program with cash back benefits of up to 5%, we are offering consumers and businesses in the region different ways to interact and transact with cryptocurrencies.

So far, VISA has partnered with more than 70 crypto-leading platforms worldwide. VISA’s crypto-enabled cards allow users to spend digital assets at 80 million merchant locations worldwide.