Payments Giant Mastercard To Expand Its Consulting Arm With New Crypto Services

Credit card company and payments giant Mastercard is expanding its consulting services to the crypto industry.

In a new announcement, Mastercard says they are extending their payments-focused consulting services to keep up with an influx of innovation in digital assets.

“The business world is facing an influx of innovation: changing consumer preferences, rapid digital transformation and geopolitical shifts. 

To help businesses evolve and supercharge their growth enterprise-wide, Mastercard today announced that it is expanding its preeminent payments-focused consulting service with new practices dedicated to Open Banking, Open Data, Crypto & Digital Currencies, and Environment, Social & Governance (ESG).”

Mastercard has been in the consulting business for over 20 years, but according to Mastercard president of Data & Services Raj Seshadri, the company wants to continue to evolve to help customers navigate modern challenges.

“Payments are just the beginning. Over the past 20 years, we’ve worked with our customers across banking, fintech, retail, travel and other sectors, helping them understand and navigate every challenge and opportunity thrown their way. 

This evolution of consulting is in recognition of the changing world and of our changing business. It’s about helping customers navigate today’s challenges and anticipating what’s next.”

The credit card company giant’s crypto consulting services will cover a wide range of blockchain sectors, from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

“Mastercard’s consulting efforts with banks and merchants cover a range of digital currency capabilities, from early-stage education, risk assessments and bank-wide crypto and NFT strategy development to crypto cards and the design of crypto loyalty programs. Mastercard has curated partnerships with digitally native firms that offer best-of-breed solutions in cryptocurrencies and has helped fintechs expand into new markets, working through go-to-market planning and commercialization strategies.

For instance, one focus is helping central banks explore the design and deployment of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) using Mastercard’s testing platform, allowing them to research various scenarios before deployment, and drawing on deep expertise around payment systems, policy and regulation, and governance.”

Last month, Mastercard partnered with crypto exchange giant Coinbase to allow customers to directly purchase NFTs with a credit card on Coinbase’s new NFT platform. The partnership makes NFTs more accessible to blockchain beginners, allowing those customers to purchase NFTs in fiat rather than crypto.

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