Crypto.com Teams With Mastercard for Gulf States Card Program

Crypto.com says it has obtained a license letting it issue cards on Mastercard’s network.

The new program, announced Wednesday (Dec. 4), will let Crypto.com launch a Mastercard-powered card in Bahrain, letting its customers use their card at over 150 million in-store and online locations worldwide.

“Users can easily fund their cards through the Crypto.com app using e-money wallets or third party-issued credit and debit cards,” the company said in a news release. “The innovative payment product will be available across all five Crypto.com card tiers, including Black Obsidian, offering rewards up to 8% on spending and will be denominated in USD.”

The company says this partnership “cements the progression” of its card program, as Crypto.com tries to offer its customers more ways to spend their crypto assets “in real-world payment scenarios.”

The card program is initially launching in Bahrain before expanding across the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which include Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The partnership comes as paying with cryptocurrency is growing in popularity, something that presents both opportunities and challenges for merchants.

“Crypto payments are still new territory for many consumers,” PYMNTS wrote last week. “Businesses should clearly communicate the steps involved, including which cryptocurrencies are accepted and any applicable fees. Offering educational resources or support channels can ease customer adoption.”

As crypto adoption increases, remaining up to date on regulatory changes is also something that could be critical for consumers and merchants.

“The main barrier to widespread stablecoin adoption outside of the crypto ecosystem is the lack of regulatory frameworks,” Tony McLaughlin, emerging payments at Citi Services, told PYMNTS in a recent interview.

In addition, the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Blockchain’s Benefits for Regulated Industries” found that blockchain technology, the backbone of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, could have potential for use in regulated industries such as healthcare and finance.

Additional PYMNTS Intelligence research has found that a little more than three-quarters of merchants who accept crypto payments said they did so because of lower transaction processing fees compared to other forms of payment.

Beyond that, 32% of merchants that were extending their usage of crypto said that they were doing so because they thought it could help them attract new customers, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and BitPay collaboration, “Paying With Cryptocurrency: What Consumers and Merchants Expect From Digital Currencies.”