Payments giant Mastercard is readying to announce that its huge network of banks and retailers will be soon allowed to combine cryptocurrencies into their operations. The company is pursuing these plans in partnership with crypto platform Bakkt.
The merchandise to be coated by this growth are to include bitcoin (BTC) wallets, credit and debit cards enabled to earn crypto rewards and spend digital assets, as well as loyalty programs that enable airline customers and hotel guests to transform their amassed points into crypto, CNBC reported.
“Our partners, be they banks, fintechs or merchants can offer their prospects the flexibility to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through an integration with the Bakkt platform,” Sherri Haymond, Executive Vice President of digital partnerships at Mastercard, was quoted as saying.
Executives on the two companies stated that Bakkt will be liable for offering custodial services to these partners who will sign up.
Mastercard says it has partnerships with more than 22,000 monetary establishments globally. Given the dimensions of the company’s international payments infrastructure, the forthcoming growth could boost cryptocurrency adoption internationally.
Mastercard stated last July it hosted some 27.2bn switched transactions within the second quarter of 2021, with 2.85bn Mastercard and Maestro cards in use. This translated into a complete net income of USD 4.53bn between April and June 2021, a robust 35.8% increase compared with the identical period a year earlier.
The most recent growth is a part of Mastercard’s broader crypto-oriented drive. Last September, the payments giant agreed to take over crypto intelligence firm CipherTrace amid plans to “lengthen its capabilities deep into the field of digital assets.”
Source: Cryptonews
