Global payments titan Visa says that the usage of cards funded by crypto assets has surged in the fiscal first quarter of 2022.
CNBC cites Visa’s most recent earnings call where the credit giant said that customers are using crypto-loaded cards at a record pace as the company recorded $2.5 billion in payments from October to December 2021 (fiscal Q1 of 2022).
The figure represents 70% of Visa’s crypto-related volume for all of fiscal 2021.
In an interview with CNBC, Visa’s chief financial officer Vasant Prabhu said,
“To us, this signals that consumers see utility in having a Visa card linked to an account at a crypto platform. There’s value in being able to access that liquidity, to fund purchases, and manage expenses, and to do so instantly and seamlessly.”
Prabhu also says that customers are increasingly using crypto-loaded cards to purchase everyday items and services as Visa grows its network of crypto wallet partners from 54 to 65, including top US crypto exchange Coinbase.
“Looking at the broad categories of spend, we don’t see the volume concentrated in a specific merchant vertical with these programs.
People are using crypto-linked cards to spend in a variety of ways – retail goods and services, restaurants, travel. They’re increasingly being treated like a general-purpose account…
Crypto rewards are a significant part of the value proposition for many of these card programs, particularly for consumers who are new to crypto who may not be directly investing in it, but are excited for the opportunity to earn it as they spend fiat.”
Though Visa doesn’t hold any digital assets itself, the company created a crypto-related advisory branch last December to help its clients navigate the world of digital currencies.
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