Cardholders will now gain the ability to consolidate cryptocurrency payments without intermediaries. The initiative will invigorate the payment methods with crypto assets.
Mastercard will set an allowance for affiliated merchants to bring and receive payments in bitcoin later this year. It means that the establishments that accept credit cards can also accept payments in cryptocurrencies without intermediaries and beyond the fiat ecosystem.
In an official statement, the company stated that payments through cardholders could also settle in cryptocurrencies at all affiliated businesses.
The company added that this procedure would see effectiveness on the crypto assets that share compatibility with its network. However, The company signaled that it would give the green light to stablecoins, which the company considers more reliable, among many of the options currently available.
CEO Michael Miebach’s promised for the fourth quarter of this year to integrate digital currency payments “directly onto our network,” providing maximum flexibility for customers and merchants alike.
The acceptance of bitcoin in Mastercard affiliates means a new dawn for evolving transaction procedures inside this company. The CEO of the company, Ajay Banga, explained that bitcoin did not serve as an instrument for a financial embodiment of unbanked sectors because its volatility is unpredictable and terrifying.
Practical Solutions and Suitable Options Regarding Payment Methods
Banga said that central bank digital currencies offered a more practical solution to achieve financial inclusion. Banga also considered that the most suitable option in the face of the decrease in cash use was to digitize fiat currencies, “helping cross-border trade flows.”
Since July 2020, Mastercard users with settlements in Europe can recharge their cards with cryptocurrencies and use them worldwide through the Wirex.
The MasterCard statement is: “We are seeing this unfold on the Mastercard network, with people using cards to buy crypto assets, especially during the recent surge in the value of bitcoin. Mastercard also sees that users are increasingly taking advantage of crypto cards to access these assets and convert them to traditional currencies to spend.”
Mastercard’s executive vice president of digital assets also said in a blog post that MasterCard is not promoting the use of cryptocurrencies but enabling alternative ways for customers, merchants, and people in business to be free.
Mastercard Has not Still Assured Which Cryptocurrencies Will Allow Into its Network
Mastercard currently offers cards that enable customers to make every transaction or operation with cryptocurrency. Still, those payments suffer a conversion into regular currencies right before they begin to move through the company’s network.
According to Dhamodharan, supporting crypto assets will give many more merchants the green light to move forward and accept such payments and create a culture in which these merchants can cut out inefficiencies.
Mastercard did not clarify which specific cryptocurrencies the company will allow onto its network. Still, it said there are high expectations to provide more support for crypto assets in the future.
By: Jenson Nuñez
