BVNK Links With Marqeta for Card-Based Stablecoin Spending – Digital Transactions
With card programs emerging to make consumer stablecoin spending a more familiar experience, payments companies are responding to the opportunity to claim a chunk of the volume.
In one development, Mastercard’s BVNK and the card-issuing platform Marqeta early Wednesday announced an integration they say will “allow users to transact in digital dollars at millions of merchants globally with a standard payment card.”
Specifically, the integration will enable Marqeta’s users to spend stablecoins through cards but also digital wallets and other financial tools, the parties say, opening potentially millions of merchants around the world for stablecoin acceptance.
In the collaboration, Marqeta will rely on technology from BVNK to enable Marqeta users to spend and otherwise manage stablecoins as part of a mix with fiat currencies. Oakland, Calif.-based Marqeta will handle card issuance and acceptance as well as links with banks and networks, the parties say. One objective of using cards is to avoid forcing merchants to “change how they accept payments,” says Anthony Peculic, Marqeta’s chief strategy officer, in a statement. Marqeta’s clients include Affirm, DoorDash, Varo Bank, and Western Union.
The two companies are linking arms as “stablecoins are becoming part of the core payments infrastructure,” notes Chris Harmse, BVNK’s cofounder and chief business officer, in a statement. “Developers shouldn’t need deep blockchain expertise to use them any more than they understand card networks today.”
“What BVNK and Marqueta are doing here is packaging the capability so that non-specialist fintechs and banks can deploy it,” says Aaron McPherson, proprietor of AFM Consulting LLC. “For consumer use, this is probably the option that makes the most sense, because it doesn’t require the merchant to accept stablecoins.”
London-based BVNK, which Mastercard acquired last month in a deal valued at up to $1.8 billion, found in research it conducted earlier this year that 54% of persons surveyed held stablecoins within the past 12 months, while 13% who did not hold stablecoins said they intended to acquire the digital currency. The research also determined that 77% of those who held cryptocurrency were willing to open a stablecoin wallet through a bank or fintech app. The research effort reached 4,600 persons across 15 countries. BVNK’s technology supports businesses in accepting, sending, and converting stablecoins.
Meanwhile, major banks have been edging closer to stablecoins. U.S. Bank early Wednesday said it had managed a “live pilot transaction” using its own dollar-backed stablecoin, USBDC. The pilot involved a payment between U.S. Bank offices in Europe and North America. It also involved what the bank says is “one of the first bank-issued stablecoins deployed on a public blockchain.” The transaction relied on the Stellar blockchain.
