London-based crypto payments platform Wirex can now issue Visa accounts and process transactions autonomously as the company became a major member of the payment giant.
Crypto Payments Platform Wirex receives Visa main membership to autonomously issue cards
According to the announcement, after many years of cooperation, Wirex has been accepted as a member of the European Visa network, whose customer base in the APAC and EEA countries is over 3 million. The company enables its users to transfer crypto and fiat currencies worldwide through the platform.
With the membership, Wirex is the second crypto company after Coinbase to receive such membership, although this isn’t the first payment giant the London-based company is partnering with.
On July 20, 2020, the company also partnered with Mastercard to directly secure a master membership for the issuance of cards that support both crypto and fiat currencies.
Wirex’s latest figures show that the company has increased the number of crypto exchanges on its platform by 271% compared to December 2019. In 2014, it also launched its first crypto-enabled debit card.
Cryptocurrencies and payment giants
Cuy Sheffield, Senior Director and Head of Cryptocurrency at Visa, commented on the announcement:
Digital currencies have the potential to expand the value of digital payments to larger numbers of people and places. We are excited to work with innovative fintech companies like Wirex and enable their customers to use digital currencies with more than 61 million merchants in the Visa network.
Additionally, Wirex CEO and Co-Founder Pavel Matveev believes that achieving this major Visa membership will pave the way for more opportunities to further develop a “revolutionary product”.
Wirex is also preparing to land in the US market as a Visa card is to be introduced in a currency. However, Wirex isn’t the only one offering Bitcoin-based cards in the crypto space, as exchanges like Binance and Coinbase offer such products.
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