American payment company Mastercard Inc announced it is planning to offer support for some cryptocurrencies on its network this year.
In the original statement on its website, the credit-card giant admitted that whatever our opinion of cryptocurrency is, it is a fact that that is becoming a significant part of the payments field.
With its support for crypto payments, Mastercard joins a line of firms that have shown similar support. Asset manager BlackRock Inc and payments companies Square and PayPal have also recently supported crypto payments. The Mastercard’s announcement also follows Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc purchase of $1.5 billion of bitcoin and revealing it would soon accept it as a form of payment.
Mastercard’s announcement said:
We are seeing this fact play out on the Mastercard network, with people using cards to buy crypto assets, especially during Bitcoin’s recent surge in value. We are also seeing users increasingly take advantage of crypto cards to access these assets and convert them to traditional currencies for spending.
Mastercard already provides its customers with cards allowing them to have cryptocurrency transactions, even though it does not go through its network.
The payment giant also pointed out that not all cryptocurrencies will be supported on its network but it will carefully decide which ones to add.
The official statement said:
This is a big change that will require a lot of work. We will be very thoughtful about which assets we support based on our principles for digital currencies, which focus on consumer protections and compliance.
To be completely clear, not all of today’s cryptocurrencies will be supported on our network. While stablecoins are more regulated and reliable than in the recent past, many of the hundreds of digital assets in circulation still need to tighten their compliance measures, so they won’t meet our requirements. We expect consumers and the ecosystem as a whole will start to rally around the crypto assets that offer reliability and security. It’s those very same stablecoins that we expect to bring into our network.
Mastercard explained that its primary focus is to ensure customer protection and it will aim its efforts
The announcement added:
First and foremost we need consumer protections, including privacy and security of consumers’ information — the same level of security people have come to expect in their credit cards. Next, strict compliance protocols will be needed, including Know Your Customer, a requirement meant to snuff out illegal activity and deception in payment networks. Also, these digital assets must follow local laws and regulations in the regions they are used.
Mastercard also pointed out that its decision to support cryptocurrency payments will open possibilities for merchants and customers. It will allow shoppers welcome new customers who are want to sue digital assets as well as add new options foe existing ones.
