Mastercard has announced a partnership with a web3 technology company Immersive, to offer an all-new crypto-enabled method of payment for physical, digital and metaverse purchases. Mastercard Supports Stablecoin Transactions In Collaboration With Immersive Immersive, the web3 company behind this partnership, has said that this new payment solution will enable users to make digital currency payments directly from their crypto wallets. And can be used to pay for all goods and services at merchants that support Mastercard. This new solution is exclusive and launched for consumers in New Zealand and Australia. There is no third party required by the system that holds funds as collateral, which means users will have complete control over their cryptocurrencies. The ownership of assets will completely be in the hands of a customer until they make a purchase. And USD Coin will be used for all purchases through Mastercard. USD Coin is a cryptocurrency stablecoin from Circle, a technology company in the US, and is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. Every time a payment is made, the stablecoin will be converted to fiat, and the transaction will be settled on Mastercard’s network. Immersive has revealed that the company will rely on Mastercard’s identity services and CipherTrace solution to address Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML). In addition to this, the company will also lean on online fraud detection and blockchain analytics to secure the transaction process. Sandeep Malhotra, Vice President of Products & Innovation at Mastercard further commented about this collaboration saying, “As Web2 and Web3 increasingly converge, Mastercard remains committed to partnering with like-minded organizations like Immersve to scale and secure the blockchain ecosystem to make simple, safe cryptocurrency transactions, and even payments in the metaverse, easily accessible to billions of consumers.” Jerome Faury, CEO at Immersive, too, commented on the partnership saying “Collaborating with a well-known and trusted brand like Mastercard is a big step towards mainstream adoption of web3 wallets,” “We love the fact that our platform supports both centralized crypto payments and decentralized experiences, to enable individuals to become the master of their money. Immersive is literally building bridges that make it possible for individuals to transact directly from their crypto wallet, anywhere Mastercard is accepted online. We want to bring the best of web3’s technology and values to everyday payment experiences. But we also want to provide traditional guardrails, like the Mastercard network’s consumer protections, to crypto natives transacting online.” he further added. Mastercard Expands Services To Cryptocurrency Issuers This isn’t the first time Mastercard has offered a cryptocurrency-related solution. The company has been constantly trying to ensure that cryptocurrency services reach as many people as possible. Mastercard conducted a study in 2022, that showed 49% of Brazilian consumers have made at least one cryptocurrency transaction in their life in the past 12 months, while the global share for the same category stands at 41%, significantly lower than that of Brazil. The payments company collaborated with Binance, a popular cryptocurrency exchange, to launch a card that will enable Brazilians to make payments with 13 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Binance USD. Binance said that it will offer cashback of up to 8% on purchases made with the card, and won’t charge any fee for ATM withdrawals. However, the company will charge a fee of 0.9% for every transaction made with the card. Mastercard has also collaborated with banks and fintechs to support buying, holding and selling crypto assets. The company has also helped banks offer cross-border crypto-related services, in addition to digital receipt and loyalty solutions to financial institutions. Jorn Lambert, Mastercard’s digital director comments on the importance of convenient crypto solutions in a CNBC interview saying, “There are many consumers who are really interested and intrigued by cryptocurrency, but who would feel much more confident if these services were offered by their financial institutions “It’s still a little scary for some people.” Digital Asset Adoption Demands Cryptocurrency Support From Traditional Payments Providers. Mastercard has been continuously making efforts to bring cryptocurrencies onto its platform, but it has been clear that the company doesn’t want to promote cryptocurrencies but provide users with alternatives for payments. An official newsroom release from the company read, “Our philosophy on cryptocurrencies is straightforward: It’s about choice. Mastercard isn’t here to recommend you start using cryptocurrencies. But we are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value – traditional or crypto – however they want. It should be your choice, it’s your money.” Mastercard has partnered with Paxos, Circle, Evolve and a bunch of other leading cryptocurrency companies to find ways of converting cryptocurrencies into fiat for payments. This will create an infrastructure for cryptocurrencies in the traditional ecosystem that can support future cryptocurrency partnerships. The company also plans to diversify the method of payments for users onto its platform, while ensuring customer protection and maintaining regulatory compliance. Mastercard already offers a range of services such as digital identification, cybersecurity, consulting and open banking services to thousands of financial institutions. It intends to use these resources to provide better support to cryptocurrency companies. To expand the company’s consulting activity, Mastercard purchased CipherTrace, a company that tracks fraudulent behavior in crypto transactions and opens them up for investigation. This will help the company to make crypto-related transactions on the network more secure for consumers, in addition to helping it comply with regulators.

by Jon Hartney

February 25, 2023

in Bitcoin, Blockchain, Business, Market

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