Visa outlines plans to bring crypto services to Brazil

Visa, the multinational payment giant, has announced it is planning to bring cryptocurrency services to traditional banking platforms in Brazil. The company also revealed that it is working with several crypto companies in the country to bring cryptocurrency payment cards to the market, hinting at a possible direct integration of Bitcoin in payments.

In a recent interview, Eduardo Abreu, vice president of new business at payments giant Visa, told local news outlet Seu Dinheiro that the company’s intentions to integrate crypto assets like Bitcoin onto its platform for both payments and as a store of value.

By Abreu’s words, the company has plans to develop applications (APIs) to unite traditional banks with cryptographic products that will make it clients possible to invest in cryptocurrencies and ETFs within banking platforms with no intermediates.

Visa also announced it is working with several national companies to issue cryptocurrency cards. Among these are Zro Bank, Alterbank, and Rippio, which will allow users to connect these to bank accounts. The Visa executive did not comment on a possible ETA for these developments.

In the interview, Abreu shared his belief that greater adoption will require the integration of traditional banking activity within the cryptocurrency ecosystem so that customers can transact with fiat and crypto within the same environment.

“The great advantage of adopting Bitcoin is, without a doubt, its ease. Without needing to exchange a fiat currency, there is an optimization of exchanges when using Bitcoin,” he said.

Abreu hasn’t announced a specific launch date, but it is expected to happen in the coming months.

Back in March 2021, Visa’s CEO of Brazil, Fernando Teles, introduced the concept of adopting tokenized payments, as well as an application programming interface, or API, designed to bridge the gap between traditional financial institutions and crypto services.

Visa already offers 180 currencies on its platform and will look to leverage its 170 million global customer base and establishes fintech relationships with national banks to maximizing adoption in the region.

As reported before, Visa, in partnership with Sydney-based digital assets startup, to issue a physical debit card in Australia that will allow Australians to spend their Bitcoin at local shops.