Visa says digital payments such as cryptocurrency can disrupt $18 trillion annual consumer spending

Visa has announced that in excess of $1 billion in cryptocurrency was spent by consumers globally, using Visa’s crypto-linked cards, in the first six months of this year. It stated that only a fraction of this amount in crypto was spent in the same period over the last two years. 

For an article on CNBC, Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu explained how the payments giant was seeking to make crypto as useable as any other currency. 

“We are doing a lot to create an ecosystem that makes crypto currency more usable and more like any other currency. People are exploring ways in which they can use cryptocurrencies for things they would use normal currencies for.” He added, “There are lots of issues in terms of volatility, etc. But that’s up to the owners of cryptocurrencies to manage and track.” 

Visa’s large rival Mastercard has published recent research stating that 93% of North American consumers are thinking to use cryptocurrency and other forms of digital payments in the next year. The research also highlighted the fact that 75% of millennials would give cryptocurrencies a go if they understood them better. 

Mastercard is forging ahead with its crypto plans with a launch of a card this summer. The card will enable customers to earn crypto rewards on their payments. The scheme will be in partnership with the Gemini crypto exchange, owned by the Winklevoss twins. 

Back to Visa, the company has announced that it will add Sam Bankman-Fried's cryptocurrency exchange to its Fintech Fast Track Program, which aims to make cryptocurrency a more viable form of spending for consumers and businesses. 

On the subject of whether Visa would be adding cryptocurrencies to its balance sheet, CFO Prahbu stated: 

“We don’t hold crypto currencies on our balance sheet today. We hold currencies on our balance sheet that we need to run our business. We hold currencies that we get paid in or we pay people in. That tends to be the dollar, euro, pound. So we don’t have plans to hold crypto currency because it’s not typically the way we get paid or the way we pay people,” 

Visa said that crypto and other forms of digital payments had the potential to disrupt the entire global payments spent every year, which amount to around $18 trillion. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.