The card program, which is live now in Hong Kong with plans to expand to Mexico in the latter part of this year, lets customers use digital assets to pay for everyday purchases, Thredd said in a news release Tuesday (Aug. 11), the same day Cashi officially launched its card.
“Cashi is helping turn stable digital assets into something consumers can use naturally in their everyday lives,” said Damien Gough, head of APAC at Thredd.
“Launching a program across markets as distinct as Hong Kong and Mexico requires technology that can support local payment requirements without compromising the consistency of the customer experience. Thredd’s platform gives Cashi a strong foundation to launch, expand and bring its vision for borderless spending to more consumers.”
Thredd says Cashi’s Hong Kong program now issues virtual Visa cards and allows Google Pay for end users. The planned expansion into Mexico will add physical cards and support for Apple Pay. The phased rollout gives Cashi a foundation to expand its stablecoin card offering into new markets, the release added.
“Cashi was built for people who need money that moves globally and holds its value while it waits,” said Esther Wong, Cashi’s founder and CEO.
“Our goal is to make digital dollars feel as useful and intuitive as the money people already use every day. Thredd’s experience supporting crypto card programs, and its ability to support expansion across multiple markets made it the right issuer processing partner for Cashi.”
The partnership comes at a time of growing consumer demand for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins to work like familiar forms of money and allow them to make everyday purchases, as recent PYMNTS Intelligence research shows.
“Yet limited merchant acceptance, transaction costs and uneven user experiences still separate ownership from routine use,” PYMNTS wrote Tuesday, adding that the research “points to an encouraging path forward: connect digital assets to the banking apps, cards and payment networks consumers already understand.”
The research, conducted in collaboration with Paymentology, found that 42% of stablecoin holders said they want to use digital assets for major purchases, with 28% already doing so. And 71% of stablecoin holders said they would use a linked debit card to spend their coins.
“Such cards can convert digital assets at the point of sale, send the payment over established card networks and pay merchants through systems they already use,” the report added.
“Think of it as putting a new fuel through the same pump: the underlying value changes, while the customer experience stays recognizable.”
