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Visa processed $2.5 billion in crypto-linked payments during the three-month period ending December 31
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65 platforms and exchanges have partnered with Visa, including Coinbase and BlockFi
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CEO Al Kelly said the payments giant “will continue to move into the crypto space.”
Visa customers used their crypto-linked cards to make $2.5 billion in payments during the global payments firm’s fiscal first quarter of 2022, which ended December 31.
The company processed transactions totaling $46.7 billion during the quarter, a 21% increase in volume compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Those amounts pushed the payments giant’s crypto volume to about 70% of the level recorded for fiscal year 2021, CEO Al Kelly said on an earnings call.
According to Visa’s CEO, the large jump in payments made with the company’s crypto-linked cards was driven in part by an increase in the number of platforms and exchanges joining the program, rising from 54 to 65.
Notable network partners include cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase and BlockFi, a U.S.-based crypto wealth management provider.
Merchants accepting Visa-linked crypto payments also rose substantially, reaching 100 million during the quarter, the company indicated in its earnings release.
Kelly noted that the credit-card giant “will continue to move into the crypto space” as it helps support the sector’s growth. Part of Visa’s strategy, he explained, is to strengthen partnerships that ensure connectivity, reliability and security to scale services and value for customers.
Visa’s chief financial officer, Vasant Prabhu, said the growth in crypto-linked card payments signals that users see value in the offering, according to CNBC.
He pointed out that customers increasingly find value through access to liquidity and instant, seamless purchases.
Prabhu also noted that volumes continued to rise despite declines in cryptocurrency markets and that payments were spread across multiple merchant verticals, including retail, restaurants and travel.
The company does not hold cryptocurrency on its balance sheet, but it has increasingly sought to support merchants and platforms. In December, Visa announced a crypto advisory service aimed at helping financial institutions and merchants.
Visa said the advisory service responds to growing adoption of crypto for payments and also aims to assist clients exploring areas such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).