Mastercard to accept cryptocurrency payments this year

It was just a matter of time till Mastercard made a commitment to accepting cryptocurrency payments. Mastercard was one of the few remaining big payments platforms yet to welcome digital currency payments over its network.

Visa and PayPal set the tone

The big public move in this respect was made by PayPal back in October of last year when the payments service announced that it would be facilitating cryptos starting from this year.

PayPal is home to more than 300 million active users and 26 million merchants worldwide, and the platform welcoming cryptocurrencies definitely put all the other players in the payments space on alert.

A few months before PayPal’s entry into crypto payments, Visa made a rather quiet entry into the market. The payments giant in a blog post announced that it would be advancing its approach to digital currency.

Visa’s entry may have gone a little under the radar but the plans it has could have the biggest effect. In a report by Yahoo Finance, Visa is working with more than 25 cryptocurrency companies on a variety of products and services. The report goes on to say that there could even be cryptocurrency debit and credit cards.

Enter Mastercard

Not to be left out of all that is happening with cryptocurrencies, Mastercard announced that it will be onboarding select cryptocurrencies. What those currencies are is yet to be made public. However, according to a report by Engadget, Mastercard’s criteria is security, reliability and compliance.

This could mean that a number of digital currencies may not make the cut. Mastercard wants to mimic the same level of security people are familiar with when transacting with fiat currency (albeit digitally). On top of that cryptocurrencies will have to implement strong KYC measures. As well as adhering to the regulations and laws in the countries and regions they operate in.

It’s good to see cryptos getting the attention of the big payments facilitators. This will no doubt increase their adoption and recognition by countries that may have not been keen on them in the past.

You should check out

Since we are on the subject of countries that aren’t warm on cryptocurrencies and digital assets. We had a conversation with Financial services Lawyer Prosper Mwedzi who is pushing a Private Blockchain Technology and Digital Assets Bill. The bill will give local authorities a framework to licencing and regulate cryptocurrencies and digital asset companies.

Technikari Crypto Special: we are joined by Prosper Mwedzi who is pushing a Blockchain Tech Bill

Cover Image Credit CNBC