Visa has deepened its links to the crypto sector by partnering with Transak, a Web3 platform provider based in Miami which will implement the payments provider’s Visa Direct features.
Billed by the new partners as a ‘big W for crypto’, the agreement will see Transak utilise Visa Direct’s services for real-time payments to reduce delays in transfers from cryptocurrency to fiat currency.
Transak and Visa’s primary target customers for this partnership are those who ‘want to quickly exit the crypto market’ by combining the former’s infrastructure, which supports over 40 cryptocurrencies, and the latter’s real-time transactions services.
Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, North America Head of Visa Direct and Global Ecosystem Readiness, said: “By enabling real-time card withdrawals through Visa Direct, Transak is delivering a faster, simpler and more connected experience for its users – making it easier to convert crypto balances into fiat, which can be spent at the more than 130 million merchant locations where Visa is accepted.”
Visa is a traditional leader in the Web2 payments space, having built itself up as one of the world’s biggest payments processors over decades of development. It is currently the second-largest card issuer in the world.
LIke many other payments stakeholders, the company has been increasingly engaging with and seeking to elevate its position in the Web3 fintech space, notably enhancing its operations in cryptocurrency as a significant part of this.
Partnering with Transak is the firm’s second major Web3 development of 2024, following on from the launch of a loyalty programme in the first week of January centred around digital wallets.
“We believe this partnership is an inflection point for Web3 as a whole,” remarked Sami Start, Co-Founder & CEO of Transak.
“Now, millions across the globe have a straightforward way to cashout their digital asset holdings to their local currency in real-time and intuitively.
“They no longer have to walk the treacherous path of compliance uncertainty or face risks of fraud – Transak and Visa have them covered for over 40 cryptocurrencies.”