By
Bhushan Akolkar
April 23rd, 2024
Card and payment companies like Mastercard, PayPal, and Visa have been working with and investing in blockchain technology to expand their array of services.
Card company Mastercard Inc (NYSE: MA) has partnered with cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) payments app MoonPay to explore how blockchain technology can be used to connect with and foster customer loyalty. This was announced at the Money20/20 event in Las Vegas by MoonPay’s President of Enterprise, Keith Grossman, and Mastercard’s Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Raja Rajamanna.
MoonPay’s co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright lauded the partnership as a huge advancement for Web3.
“We’re excited to collaborate with Mastercard, a prominent supporter of Web3 and the digital economy, to redefine customer loyalty and engagement,” Soto-Wright said. “Joining forces will create new opportunities to showcase blockchain’s potential in establishing unique connections and meaningful moments while broadening our industry’s overall reach.”
According to an October 26 press release by MoonPay, the partnership will also allow the payments app to make use of Mastercard’s Crypto Credential system to ensure that transactions between businesses and consumers that use blockchain networks are trusted and in line with regulations. The two firms will also “explore how Mastercard’s leading payments technology, including Mastercard Send and Click to Pay, can be integrated into MoonPay’s Web3 stack.”
Further, Otherlife, a MoonPay subsidiary that provides Web3 creative agency services, development, strategy, and experiential services, is set to play a vital role in the partnership.
Card and payment companies like Mastercard, PayPal, and Visa have been working with and investing in blockchain technology to expand their array of services. These efforts have resulted in advancements such as stablecoin-based payments and free Ethereum transactions.
Earlier this year, Mastercard launched the Mastercard Artist Accelerator, a Web3 and music education platform targeted at musicians with the goal of helping them to create, collaborate, and monetize their work using Web3 tools and resources. More recently, it was reported that Mastercard was working with non-custodial wallet firms MetaMask and Ledger.
One of MoonPay’s more recent partnerships was about two months ago when the company announced that it was teaming up with Binance.US, the American branch of global crypto exchange Binance to provide an alternative way for the exchange’s users to convert US dollars to crypto.