Visa CEO Talks Apple Card, Big Tech, Libra

In a wide-ranging televised interview, Visa CEO Al Kelly discussed Apple’s new co-branded credit card, Big Tech’s move into financial services, and Visa’s interest in the Libra Association, per reports from CNBC.

Kelly that said that Apple is a great partner of Visa and has worked with them for “quite some time” on Apple Cash and Apple Pay. He noted that they have a great brand, and they have a retail footprint.

The Apple Card is in partnership with Goldman Sachs, and applications for the card are now available to select customers.

It’s no surprise that a company like Apple would want to do a co-brand, Kelly noted. On the little he has seen of the Apple Card, Kelly said that “it’s quite cool.” He added that Apple has a good, loyal following of customers who will vote by getting the card and using it over time.

“So I think it’s a little too early to tell… just how successful it will be,” Kelly said.

When it comes to Big Tech moving into financial services, Kelly said that the payment ecosystem “grows every day.” He added that “it’s hard to find a lot of industries where you can come up with examples of people coming in every day to figure out how to grow the pie.”

He also noted that it is a “multiplayer ecosystem” and that Visa competes with companies with which it also partners. But he said, “I think that there’s plenty of room for all of us to cooperate together.”

In terms of Visa’s involvement with the Libra Association, Kelly noted that Libra is an “intriguing concept” and that the company signed a non-binding letter of intent.

As previously reported, Libra is a blockchain-backed cryptocurrency that will attempt to connect people around the world who don’t have access to bank accounts to digital payments at low or no cost.

Kelly said that there is much to be done in terms of governance and ensuring that Libra can “meet or exceed” the expectations, rules and laws of regulators around the world. He noted that Visa will not join the association if it is not satisfied that is the case.

“We will not do anything that we think doesn’t meet our own personal standards as well as the standards of regulators that we respect around the world,” Kelly said.