Visa Partners Wirex to Offer Crypto Payment Services to Merchants Globally

Crypto payments are still not as popular as other Web3 services because of the volatility of crypto assets as well as the dearth of services that allow and accept settlements in cryptocurrencies. Card payments giant Visa is exploring the sector of crypto payments on a global level, coming up with different means to facilitate crypto payments. In the latest development, Visa has struck a partnership with Wirex to bring crypto payment services to merchants around the world. An alternative to banking, Wirex allows people to process transactions in traditional currencies as well as through crypto assets.

The London, UK-headquartered firm confirmed this partnership with Visa on July 16 through a thread of posts on X. As per the announcement, Visa will provide its vast and established network to Wirex, and the latter will deploy its crypto payment services to Visa’s merchant userbase.

“Partnering with Wirex to help integrate blockchain technology with traditional finance, including the launch of Wirex Pay, aligns closely with our vision for the future of payments while highlighting the importance of collaboration in driving fintech innovation,” Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa, was quoted by Wirex as commenting on the development.

App-chain Launch Seals the Deal

Wirex has designed a special payment app chain called Wirex Pay to conduct crypto transactions. The development and testing of this Polygon-based chain was initiated by Wirex last year, its team had said in a blog post published in September 2023.

“Wirex Pay is built on Zero-Knowledge technology, ensuring compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It is designed for rapid transactions, ensuring users experience swift and efficient payments. It offers near instant and secure interoperability with all other Polygon chains,” the post had explained at the time.

The Wirex Token (WXT) will be the native token for processing gas fee transactions on Wirex Pay. As per the company’s posts on X, the mainnet launch of Wirex Pay is around the corner. The exact date of the launch remains unclear for now.

“Together, Visa and Wirex are committed to developing projects that integrate blockchain technology with traditional financial systems. Visa will support Wirex’s growth in existing markets through enhanced marketing efforts, leveraging Visa assets and capabilities,” the official press release about the development noted.

Visa, Wirex Move Forward in Experimenting with DeFi

Wirex claims to be catering to over six million users across 130 nations, including India. Back in 2022, Wirex had expanded its non-custodial Wirex Wallet service in India, in an attempt to contribute to driving DeFi towards mass adoption. Whether or not Wirex is FIU-registered in India also remains unclear for now.

As far as Visa is concerned, the US-based cards payment giant has been taking regular steps to experiment with Web3 sector, especially through partnerships.

In January, for instance, Visa partnered Web3 firm Transak to finetune its crypto payment service.

Before stepping down as the CEO in 2023, Visa’s Al Kelly had said that blockchain-based stablecoins and the concept of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) were here to stay and become part of existing global financial systems.