Last month Visa announced that it would allow its customers to make payments using Bitcoin USD. Throughout the industry, this has been seen as a massive sign of acceptance and a step in the direction of cryptocurrency being much more maintained.
Currently, their scheme is a pilot in conjunction with crypto.com but it is thought they will offer more partners and expand the scheme throughout the rest of 2021. Visa isn’t the first to embrace digital currency, with Elon Musk recently announcing that people can now buy a Tesla using Bitcoin if they wish.
What is Bitcoin?
If you haven’t heard of Bitcoin before then you are likely to have lots of crypto questions. It’s important to do some research into digital currency, what it is and how you could be affected. There are thousands of cryptocurrency in existence, although Bitcoin is probably the most well-known. Each Bitcoin is worth several thousand dollars, although the value changes all the time so it’s impossible to put an exact value on it. People use it to invest their money, hoping that they’ll be able to sell it for more than they bought it for and therefore making a profit.
Over recent months, the popularity of cryptocurrency has increased massively, which means more people than ever are interested in digital currency. There are several household name brands that now accept Bitcoin for at least some of their products and services, so if Visa and other financial corporations want to keep up, it makes sense that they’ll need to jump on board too.
Why Now?
No doubt, customer demand will have driven the need for Visa to make this announcement and change their tune when it comes to Bitcoin. When a massive brand such as Tesla announces that you can now pay for their (very expensive) product using Bitcoin, you know that it is something that is becoming mainstream. Although Bitcoin and digital currency are not new, they have taken off massively since 2020. With record-breaking increases in value and masses of media attention, so many people want a piece of the digital currency pie so it makes sense that even traditional finance companies are having to sit up and pay attention.
What Visa Have to Say
Considering they have someone as Head of Crypto at Visa, it is certainly something they’re taking seriously. Cuy Sheffield recently spoke of the importance of offering digital currency options to their customers in order to make sure they keep up with demand.
Making Things Easier for Their Customers
We know that there are more places that are accepting Bitcoin and as such, more Visa customers are likely to see this as convenient and want to do it too. By teaming up with Crypto.com they’re opening up this to all of their customers and taking away a large part of the hassle involved in using a digital currency. Although things don’t change massively for those wanting to spend it, they just present their card in the same way, behind the scenes the way this payment is processed has been massively overhauled. This is going to lead to much less confusion amongst retailers and a much better customer experience for those that do want to use it.
What Does Visa Want Their Customers To Know?
Although this is a pilot scheme it is likely to be successful and therefore continue. Visa are keen for their customers to know that they are now open for crypto-wallets. They are now taking steps to streamline the whole process, intending to be the preferred network for crypto platforms to use; wanting to make it as easy as possible for Visa to be integrated – keen to be a market leader in this industry.
Visa is now allowing Bitcoin, simply because the industry demanded it. If any financial company wants to succeed then it is important they listen to the needs of their customers & keep up with demand. In this case, Visa saw an increasing number of their customers showing an interest in cryptocurrency and so it made sense that they would get on board with Bitcoin. The only real question is which big money company will be the next to announce they have done the same?