Mastercard and Nexo release сredit card that lets put crypto as collateral

Crypto service provider Nexo announced on April 13 its partnership with Mastercard and e-money wallet provider DiPocket to launch a first-of-its-kind card in Europe that will let users get credit by putting their crypto assets up as collateral to draw fiat loans. The card will be integrated with Google Pay Apple Pay and offer 2% cashback.

On Wednesday, Nexo announced that it had partnered with Mastercard and DiPocket to launch the first-in-kind crypto credit card in Europe. The new card, dubbed Nexo Card, will be linked to a crypto-backed credit line supplied by Nexo that will let users borrow and spend fiat currencies without selling their crypto.

There are no restrictions on how much a customer can spend or withdraw from the open credit line and interest is only paid on the amount of credit actually used. Interest remains at 0% for customers who maintain a loan-to-value ratio of 20% or below.

Nexo co-founder and managing partner Antoni Trenchev commented in the press release that the product will help millions of people in Europe and then worldwide leverage their crypto holdings in order to spend instantly without having to sell them.

“Launching the Nexo Card in Europe in partnership with Mastercard and DiPocket is a big milestone for us and the latest proof of the immense synergy between the existing financial network and digital assets,” he said.

“Mastercard recognizes that digital assets are revolutionizing the financial landscape,” added Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s head of crypto and blockchain products and partnerships.

The service will accept multiple crypto assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether, as collateral, have dynamic credit lines with no minimum repayment requirements and charge no forex fees for up to $21,672 per month, the press release said.

Also, the Nexo Card will be available in both virtual and physical form, integrated with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and offer 2% cashback paid out in Bitcoin or the firm’s NEXO token on every transaction. The firm also revealed that it had completed a successful partial roll-out of the Nexo Card targeting a focus group of consumers in a select group of European countries, showing that there is demand for the product.

Last October, Mastercard partnered with crypto firm Bakkt Holdings Inc. to enable cryptocurrency card payments. It allowed banks to issue debit or credit cards that let people pay with Bitcoin and earn cryptocurrency as rewards.