Visa is looking at plans to accept crypto payments in Brazil, an interview with Brazilian news outlet Seu Dinheiro says.
Eduardo Abreu, vice president of new business at Visa, said he wants to look into integrating bitcoin, as well as other digital coins, as a method of payment or as a way to store value.
Abreu is reportedly building on ideas introduced earlier by Fernando Teles, Visa’s CEO of Brazil, who wanted to adopt the API and tokenized payments.
According to the interview, Abreu thinks the way forward will involve integrating the conventional financial activity within the crypto ecosystem and letting users transact via crypto or fiat in the same environment.
“The great advantage of adopting bitcoin is, without a doubt, its ease. Without needing to exchange a fiat currency, there is an optimization of exchanges when using bitcoin. Brazilians already have the culture of receiving card points, miles, discounts, etc. Why not receive cryptocurrencies with their credit card as well?”
Visa has long been looking at new ideas in the space, with the interview saying the company plans to work with local crypto companies and bring crypto payment cards into the mix. The company reportedly believes it will be possible to invest in crypto companies and ETFs without using any middlemen.
Visa is also working on a B2B-oriented blockchain that will be able to let companies pay one another through smart contracts.
In other Visa-related news, the company is partnering with UnionBank of the Philippines in order to let FinTechs in the country set up personal payments gateways.
Read more: Visa, UnionBank Collaborate To Offer FinTechs Personalized Payment Gateways
The collaboration is intended to help companies access relevant payment solutions as well as work with the FinTech community and make money transfers that are both easy and secure. With the collaboration, Visa and UnionBank are aiming to put FinTechs on the same level “as they would [be] if they were a direct card issuer with Visa.”
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