Visa to merge CBDCs with traditional finance

What

Visa has partnered with blockchain software company ConsenSys to bridge the gap between central bank digital currencies and traditional finance

Why

Visa has been consistently exploring ways of engaging with crypto markets, and this could be their next big entry into the space in 2022

What next

The payments giant hopes future customers will be able to use their CBDC-linked Visa card or digital wallet anywhere where Visa is accepted

The story

Financial services giant Visa has partnered up with ConsenSys, an Ethereum scaling company, to assist central bank digital currency (CBDC) networks become cross-functional with traditional finance institutions.

This is with the aim of eventually allowing Visa customers to use their CBDC-linked Visa cards or digital currency anywhere in the world where Visa is accepted.

“If successful, CBDC could expand access to financial services and make government disbursements more efficient, targeted and secure,” said Catherine Gu, Visa’s head of CBDC. “That’s an attractive proposition for policy makers.”

Visa said its crypto teams plan on working closely with central banks on pilot projects that are scheduled to begin as soon as March this year.

This comes after Visa said in early December that they’d launched a global crypto advisory practice intended to help financial institutions develop their cryptocurrency businesses as demand for crypto products rises.