Visa-Based Crypto Credit Card Usage Reaches $2.5 Bn in Q1

In January 2022, Visa, in an earnings call, announced that Visa-based crypto credit card usage reached $2.5 bn in Q1—i.e., 2022’s first fiscal quarter. Visa has its own definition of the first fiscal quarter, in which the end of December of the previous year counts as the new year’s first quarter. It’s also to mention that this is the highest ever amount of money spent via Visa crypto credit cards in the rest of the 2021. Thus, here’s everything you need to know about this increase in usage.

A Significant Increase in Visa-Based Crypto Credit Card Usage in Little Time

What’s interesting about the Visa-based crypto credit card usage reaching $2.5 bn in Q1 is that it was a drastic increase from the rest of the year. Only $1 bn was spent with Visa crypto credit cards in the first half of 2021. Therefore, the $2.5 billion accounted for more than 70% of all crypto card volume from 2021. Therefore, this clearly indicates that the adoption of payments through digital assets is increasing.

The $1 bn may be small now in comparison. However, it was still a fraction of the entire volume of crypto spending processed in 2019. That said, Visa did not provide exact figures for 2019, as reported by CNBC in July.

What the CFO of Visa Has to Say About This Number

In his interview with CNBC, Vasant Prabhu, the CFO of Visa, was optimistic about the development of Visa-based crypto credit card usage. He explained how the company views this development as an indication that consumers see that there is utility in possessing a Visa card that is linked to a crypto platform account. He also talked about the ability to instantly and seamlessly manage purchases and fund payments.

What’s particularly great about these crypto credit cards is that users can make purchases at any vendor that accepts Visa cards, and the vendor doesn’t have to be familiar with or have any knowledge of the type of digital assets the customer has. This is because the vendor receives transactions in fiat currency just as they would with regular transactions with a Visa card. However, the card company converts the cryptocurrency to fiat currency seamlessly on the back end, making such transactions possible.

Prabhu further explained that customers have been using crypto cards to spend their assets in different ways, which include travel, restaurants, and retail goods and services. More people have started to treat these cards as general-purpose accounts, he explained.

Visa Partners with More Companies to Facilitate this Service

Visa has started to partner with more companies to facilitate this service, increasing their total partnerships from 54 to more than 65. Therefore, they have partnered with crypto companies such as Coinbase BlockFi, and Circle.

In addition to that, Visa recently partnered with Micash Johnson, an artist, to educate various artists on how they can use nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to monetize their work.

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