The multinational financial services corporation, Visa, announced this Wednesday, February 3, that it is carrying out a pilot plan for traditional banking customers to carry out operations with bitcoin (BTC) in the United States. The company is evaluating the performance of its programming interfaces (APIs) to enable the service.
To advance testing, Visa established an alliance with the neobank First Boulevard, marking a new stage in its strategy of interacting with cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, for example.
Through a statement, the company explained that the platform will link with that of its partner Anchorage, the digital asset bank authorized by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States. In theory, Visa will serve as a bridge to connect First Boulevard users with the crypto assets that Anchorage handles.
«First Boulevard will be the first in managing Visa’s new set of cryptocurrency APIs, which will allow its clients to buy, guard and trade with digital assets held by Anchorage. The test will serve to support the capabilities of the APIs and help other Visa customers to integrate the characteristics of cryptocurrencies in their product offerings, “was highlighted in the press release.
To be exceeded All tests and comply with security guidelines, Visa estimates that the service could be officially launched at the end of 2021. The intention of the payment processor is to become a provider to banks and traditional financial institutions that do not have their own cryptocurrency infrastructure .
Integrate services with bitcoin and stablecoins
Jack Forestell, director of products at Visa, highlighted that another of the The corporation’s objectives is to bring cryptocurrencies to the network of more than 70 million establishments that already process payments with credit and debit cards issued by Visa.
to also that the services cover other cryptocurrencies beyond bitcoin, as well as stablecoins or stablecoins. Quoted by Coindesk, Visa Crypto leader Cuy Sheffield indicated that the company is also considering offering support for trading of crypto assets.
Visa’s approach with the bitcoiner ecosystem has been a gradual process that would be at its peak. Currently the corporation maintains alliances with 35 companies in the cryptocurrency industry, many of which have applied for and already operate with cards issued by Visa.
In July 2020, the company released a document entitled “Advancing our approach to digital currency” In it Visa presented seven points that indicate what the fundamentals are in its business models with bitcoin, as reported at that time by CriptoNoticias.
Among the values that Visa considers most important within the Bitcoin industry are: security, privacy, integrity, trust and regulation. It should also be noted that Visa has listed the stablecoins as a “promising payments innovation”.
