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Mastercard has formed partnerships with digital asset service companies Amber Group, Bitkub and CoinJar in order to allow consumers and businesses across Asia Pacific to obtain crypto-linked Mastercard credit, debit and prepaid cards, the company said in a statement Monday.
- Cardholders can now instantly convert their cryptocurrencies into a traditional fiat currency that can be spent everywhere that Mastercard is accepted.
- Mastercard’s partners for this initiative are the first Asia Pacific-based cryptocurrency platforms to join Mastecard’s global Crypto Card Program, according to the statement.
- Some 45% of those surveyed in Asia Pacific said they are likely to consider using cryptocurrency in the next year, and 12% said they used crypto in the last year, according to the latest Mastercard New Payments Index.
- Mastercard said in late October it was working with digital asset platform Bakkt to allow merchants and banks in the U.S. to build cryptocurrency into their offerings.
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