European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell speaks on the tensions between the neighbouring Western Balkan nations in Brussels, Belgium, August 18, 2022. REUTERS/ Johanna Geron
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VIENNA, Aug 28 (Reuters) – European Union foreign ministers meeting later this week, are unlikely to unanimously back a visa ban on all Russians, as would be needed to put in place such a ban, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told Austria’s ORF TV on Sunday.
“I don’t think that to cut the relationship with the Russian civilian population will help and I don’t think that this idea will have the required unanimity,” Borrell, who chairs EU foreign ministers’ meetings, told the national broadcaster.
“I think that we have to review the way that some Russians get a visa, certainly the oligarchs not. We have to be more selective. But I am not in favour of stopping delivering visas to all Russians.”
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Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Sandra Maler
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
ISTANBUL, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Turkish sports presenter Sinem Okten was surprised to see her visa application to Europe’s Schengen area rejected twice, having visited often to cover matches and interview figures like Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon and Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp.
“I applied first to Germany then to France. Both rejected my application,” she said. “I’ve travelled abroad numerous times to follow and film matches and interview people, maybe 50-60 times. This is the first time I am having this problem.”
Turks applying for visas to the 26 Schengen countries are increasingly being rejected, data shows, and tours are being cancelled. Ankara said this week it was a deliberate effort to put President Tayyip Erdogan in a difficult position ahead of tight elections next year, a charge the European Union denies.
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According to data from schengenvisainfo.com, 16.5% of applicants from Turkey last year were denied a visa, up from 12.5% a year earlier. Schengen rejections were only 4% in 2015 and started ramping up in 2017 for Turks, it shows.
The visa costs – amounting to some 100 euros, or a third of Turkey’s minimum wage – are not refundable whether a visa is issued or not.
“Overall, the rejection rates for Schengen visa applications have increased worldwide…however, when compared to other countries like Russia, Turkey’s rejection rate growth is way bigger and consistent,” said Shkurta Januzi, editor-in-chief at SchengenVisaInfo.com.
Okten said the German embassy gave no reason for rejecting her application. A document from the French embassy, seen by Reuters, said it did not see enough evidence that the TV presenter could finance her stay in France or return to Turkey.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he believed the lengthy processing times and an increase observed in rejection rates were deliberate, adding that he raised the issue in meetings with his counterparts.
“Unfortunately, the U.S. and some EU and non-EU western countries give our citizens visa appointments one year, 6-7-8 months later. They also increased the rejection rate. This is planned and deliberate,” he said on Tuesday.
Cavusoglu dismissed “excuses” related to coronavirus measures or personnel shortages, and said, without providing evidence, that the visa rejections were intended to give Erdogan a pre-election headache.
His ministry will warn ambassadors of some Western countries about the issue in September, he said. “If the situation does not improve after that we will take counter, restrictive measures.”
Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, head of the EU delegation to Turkey, told Reuters the Schengen applications are treated on their merits and not on political grounds, adding relatively more incomplete and potentially fraudulent applications are seen from Turkey.
“No decisions are taken on political grounds but rather on objective grounds,” he said, adding Turkey’s rejection rate last year was near the global rate of 13-14% for Schengen visas.
TOURS CANCELLED
Twenty-two of the 26 Schengen area members are EU states.
Turkey and the bloc enjoy good trade ties and decades of migration however relations are strained over issues including freedom of speech in Turkey and EU policies on refugees from Syria.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Schengen states received more than 900,000 visa applications annually from Turkey but that figure had dropped to around 270,000 in 2021.
Citizens from all Schengen countries are exempt from visas when visiting Turkey, most for up to 90 days, and some can enter with only their ID cards, according to Turkey’s foreign ministry website.
As more and more Turks are being rejected, tour operators have cancelled regular trips, Tur Andiamo chairman Cem Polatoglu said.
“We are having problems. Our tours are getting cancelled. We used to schedule tours to Italy every week, now we have to offer them every fortnight,” Polatoglu said.
At a visa application centre in Istanbul, 57-year-old Hikmet Dogan said it was easier to get a visa in his previous trips to see his son in Sweden.
“I travelled 2-3 times but this time it is harder, the costs jumped too…Unfortunately young people are trying to leave the country as the Turkish economy is getting worse,” Dogan said.
Beyond the Schengen area, the United States vowed on Wednesday to expand its visa processing capacity in Turkey after the foreign minister’s public complaints. read more
Okten, the sports presenter, said she would continue her efforts to secure a visa.
“The season started and I need to cover some matches on site. I need to be able to travel abroad to do my job…I will apply again and try my chance through Greece this time,” she said.
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Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay in Ankara and Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul;
Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun;
Editing by Daren Butler and Raissa Kasolowsky
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Here are Friday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Edward Jones upgrades Qualcomm to buy from hold Edward Jones said it sees an “attractive” buying opportunity in Qualcomm. “We are upgrading Qualcomm to a Buy from a Hold because we believe the stock does not fully reflect our growth outlook.” Read more about this call here. Wells Fargo reiterates Keurig Dr Pepper as overweight Wells Fargo it’s bullish on shares of the beverage giant. “We expect forward progress on the KDP narrative with Q222 results, with sustained strength in the ‘Cold’ portfolio (Packaged Beverages, Beverage Concentrates, Latin America Beverages) driving a top-line beat; and sequential improvement in ‘Hot’ (Coffee) after last quarter’s challenges.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Visa and Mastercard as top ideas Morgan Stanley said it’s time investors consider shares of Visa and Mastercard and that the “travel recovery still has legs.” “V / MA can benefit from the reopening of Asia-Pac with room for more European tourism improvement, while perception of inflation risk may be overdone, especially for higher income demo. V/MA also hedged given volume driven revs along with continued shift to electronic payments.” JPMorgan reiterates Snap as overweight JPMorgan said it’s staying bullish heading into Snap earnings next week, but that investors will need to exercise patience. “3Q Estimates Likely High & Rebuilding Credibility/Operational Track Record Will Take Time.” BMO reiterates Microsoft as outperform BMO cut its price target on Microsoft to $305 per share from $345, but said it continues to believe that the stock has “both good offensive and defensive attributes.” “We are lowering our upcoming June quarter and FY23 estimates to reflect increasing FX headwinds, and we are introducing our FY24 forecasts.” Read more about this call here. Goldman Sachs downgrades Yelp to neutral from buy Goldman said in its downgrade of Yelp that it sees a more balanced risk/reward outlook. “What remains an open debate (and one that we believe investors will be particularly focused on) is how the macroeconomic environment and competitive landscape dictates local advertising spend growth over the next 1-2 years.” Argus downgrades Delta to hold from buy Argus downgraded the stock due to disappointing earnings and a weak outlook. ” Delta has been hurt by capacity reductions and staffing shortages, and recently posted weaker-than-expected 2Q earnings. ” Deutsche Bank adds a catalyst call sell on Freeport-McMoRan Deutsche said it’s concerned about the company reporting disappointing earnings next week. “We expect Freeport’s Q2/22 results (due July 21) to be disappointing. We forecast a significant miss vs. consensus on EBITDA driven by lower realised prices, negative provisional pricing, and one-offs.” Bank of America adds Schlumberger to the US1 list Bank of America added the oil field services company to its US1 list and says international could provide resilient in a recession. “Meanwhile SLB , which is the most domestically (i.e., Russia) structured OFS (oil field services) company with respect to Russia operations, has remained the most opaque about the outlook for its Russia business (5% of revenues), thus we continue to monitor the Russia situation closely for SLB.” Stifel upgrades Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific to buy from hold Stifel said in its upgrade of the railroad companies that they are cheap. “While we are generally making cuts to estimates on lower growth and higher OR (operating revenue), given the substantial sell-off in equities and our view for a modest recession impact on the rails, we are upgrading some of the cheapest names ( CSX & NSC ) from Hold to Buy.” Bernstein initiates Dexcom as outperform Bernstein said in a note on Friday that the diabetes medtech company has a long runway for growth. ” DXCM is a clear buy over a 1-/2-year horizon. Even with conservative growth and margin estimates, we’re 3% ahead of consensus on the top line.” Read more about this call here . Bank of America reiterates Nvidia as buy Bank of America kept its buy rating on shares of Nvidia, but said any weakness in the stock could impact other semiconductor companies. ” NVDA has been (is) the innovation/momentum/sentiment leader in semis, and any eps/stock weakness could also impact compute peers AMD, INTC, AVGO and MRVL.” Barclays reiterates Amazon as overweight Barclays said in a note that it’s cautiously optimistic heading into earnings in early August. “We think there is a decent chance for AMZN to print a ‘better than feared’ 3Q guide and we would add selectively into the print.” Morgan Stanley reiterates Amazon as overweight Morgan Stanley said in a note that Amazon is “primed” for a “reacceleration” after the company’s Prime Day earlier this week. “We estimate Prime Day drove $4.6bn of revenue (12% above our expectations), implying 19% growth, an acceleration vs. 8% Prime Day growth in 2021, giving us increased confidence in the strength of the Prime consumer/potential for revenue reacceleration in 3Q22.” UBS reiterates Netflix as neutral UBS lowered its price target on Netflix to $198 per share from $355 ahead of earnings next week and said it has serious concerns about subscriber growth. “Expect 2Q sub declines in line with guide & a cautious 2H outlook.” Read more about this call here. UBS reiterates McDonald’s as buy UBS said in a note ahead of earnings later this month that the stock is “best positioned on resiliency.” “Despite significant outperformance YTD, MCD shares should continue to outperform in a choppy & uncertain market given: defensive attributes, inflation protection and key competitive advantages.” Wolfe downgrades American to underperform from peer perform and upgrades Allegiant to outperform from peer perform Wolfe said in its upgrade of Allegiant that it has a “proven model.” The firm also downgraded American due to its “high-end” balance sheet. “We’re upgrading ALGT from Peer Perform to Outperform as it has a proven model through prior recessions. … Lastly, we’re downgrading AAL from Peer Perform to Underperform given AAL’s high-end balance sheet leverage heading into a downturn and with our estimates well below Consensus next year.” Jefferies reiterates Caterpillar and Deere as buy Jefferies said it’s bullish on shares of Deere and Caterpillar heading into earnings later this quarter. “We expect most companies to meet or beat expectations for the 2Q. With long backlogs, supply chains easing a bit and raw materials and logistics costs abating, we may even see some guidance increases.”
LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejected calls on Monday for Britain to ease visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees fleeing conflict, saying Britain was a generous country but it needed to maintain checks on who was arriving.
The United Nations estimates that more than 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia started bombarding its neighbour, with hundreds of thousands pouring into Poland, Romania, Slovakia and elsewhere.
Responding to criticism Britain was not doing enough and was far behind its European neighbours in helping address the continent’s biggest humanitarian crisis since World War Two, Johnson said:
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“We are a very, very generous country. What we want though is control and we want to be able to check.” he told reporters. “I think it’s sensible given what’s going on in Ukraine to make sure that we have some basic ability to check who is coming in.”
The British government has been condemned by charities, opposition lawmakers and France after its insistence that refugees first acquire a visa meant some Ukrainians have been stuck in the French city of Calais, unable to enter Britain. read more
The European Union has agreed to grant temporary residency to Ukrainians fleeing the invasion and give them access to employment, social welfare and housing for up to three years.
Britain has announced visa schemes for those who have family in the country or a willing sponsor. Media reports at the weekend said Britain had only issued about 50 visas for Ukrainians so far, although Johnson disputed that figure.
The interior ministry later said that 300 visas had been issued under the scheme, and it was increasing staff to meet demand for appointments.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said: “There should be a simple route to sanctuary for those that are fleeing for their lives.”
“The Home office is in a complete mess about this, they keep changing the rules,” he told the BBC.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Britain was not doing nearly enough. It should let refugees in and deal with the paperwork later, she said.
“Having fleeing the terror in Ukraine, spending hours and hours and hours on arduous journeys, then having to jump through bureaucratic hoops is unconscionable,” she told LBC radio.
Interior minister Priti Patel told the Sun newspaper she wanted to create a humanitarian route that would allow anyone from Ukraine to come to Britain. But Europe minister James Cleverly said he did not expect the existing requirements to change.
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Additional reporting by Alistair Smout; Writing by Kate Holton; editing by Michael Holden, Angus MacSwan and Cynthia Osterman
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Consumers will still be able to use Mastercard and Visa-branded cards for domestic transactions in Russia, the country’s state-backed payments network has said, reducing the impact of the US firms’ decision to pull services over the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s homegrown payments system Mir said the cardholders would still be able to access their funds, make withdrawals and domestic transfers – at least until their bank cards expire.
Mir has processed most domestic payments in Russia since 2015, while foreign operators such as Visa and Mastercard continued to run international transactions. The operator – which is 100% owned by the country’s central bank – was established on government orders to protect the economy against sanctions imposed over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
“All cards of these payment systems already issued by Russian banks will continue to work within our country as before,” Mir’s operator said in the early hours of Sunday.
“Until the expiration of their validity, Visa and Mastercard cardholders have access to all the funds on their accounts, as well as all the usual payment transactions – paying for purchases, transferring funds from card to card, withdrawing cash, etc.”
The statement was issued shortly after the US firms declared on Saturday they would be suspending Russian operations in light of Moscow’s continued military assault on Ukraine.
On Sunday American Express said it was also suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus. “In light of Russia’s ongoing, unjustified attack on the people of Ukraine, American Express is suspending all operations in Russia,” the credit card company said in a statement on its website. “We are also terminating all business operations in Belarus.”
Both Mastercard and Visa’s decision to suspend their Russian operations will primarily impact foreign payments, meaning local consumers will no longer be able to use their Russian cards abroad or for international payments online. Foreign customers will also be blocked from making payments to Russian companies or withdrawing cash within the country.
“Payments abroad, including on foreign internet resources, will not be available with Visa and Mastercard international payment systems cards issued by Russian banks,” Mir confirmed.
The move is expected to accelerate Russian banks’ adoption of Mir’s own cards, which are accepted in a handful of countries including Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
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On Saturday, Mir said it already had seen a surge in demand for its cards following sanctions being imposed against Russian banks by the US, EU and UK. According to its own statistics, more than half of Russians already owned a Mir card as of September 2021, accounting for 32% of all transactions.
The uptake is likely to play into critics’ fears that economic sanctions will merely incentivise Russia to invest in alternative schemes. Similar concerns have been raised about blocking Russia from Swift – the secure message system used by banks for cross-border payments – and the potential rise of alternatives such as Russia’s equivalent SPFS system.
PayPal stopped accepting new customers in Russia on Wednesday and on Saturday expanded that block, saying its services there – primarily, customers transferring money to each other – had been suspended. It added that it would allow withdrawals “for a period of time, ensuring that account balances are dispersed in line with applicable laws and regulations”.
Credit card is seen in front of displayed Visa logo in this illustration taken July 15, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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March 5 (Reuters) – U.S. payments firms Visa Inc (V.N) and Mastercard Inc on Saturday said they were suspending operations in Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, and that they would work with clients and partners to cease all transactions there.
Within days, all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside of the country and any Visa cards issued outside of Russia will no longer work within the country, the company said.
“We are compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed,” Al Kelly, chief executive officer of Visa, said in a statement.
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U.S. President Joe Biden, in a call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, welcomed Visa’s and Mastercard’s decisions to suspend their operations in Russia, the White House said. W1N2QI054
“President Biden noted his administration is surging security, humanitarian, and economic assistance to Ukraine and is working closely with Congress to secure additional funding,” a White House readout of the call added.
The move by the payments firms could mean more disruption for Russians who are bracing for an uncertain future of spiraling inflation, economic hardship and an even sharper squeeze on imported goods.
Unprecedented Western sanctions imposed on Russia have frozen much of the country’s central bank’s $640 billion in assets; barred several banks from global payments system SWIFT; and sent the rouble into free-fall, erasing a third of its value this week. read more
On Monday, Ukraine’s central bank chief Kyrylo Shevchenko told Nikkei Asia the central bank and Zelenskiy urged Visa and MasterCard to halt transactions of their credit and debit cards issued by Russian banks to increase pressure on the Russian regime, the paper.
A growing number of financial and technology companies have suspended Russian operations. PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL.O), announced its decision earlier on Saturday. read more
ALTERNATIVE SYSTEM
Sberbank Rossii PAO (SBER.MM), Russia’s largest lender, said the moves by Visa and Mastercard would not affect users of the cards it issues in Russia, Tass news reported.
Sberbank said its customers would be able to withdraw cash, make transfers, pay both in offline stores and Russian internet stores because transactions in Russia pass through the domestic National Payment Card System which does not depend on foreign payment systems, according to Tass.
Russia has been taking steps to increase the independence of its financial system for years, particularly after ties with the West deteriorated over the country’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The country set up its own banking messaging system, known as SPFS, as an alternative to SWIFT and its own card payment system MIR began operating in 2015. They were part of Moscow’s efforts to develop homegrown financial tools to mirror Western ones, to protect the country in case sanctions are broadened. read more
Mastercard and Visa had significant business in Russia. In 2021, about 4% of Mastercard’s net revenues were derived from business conducted within, into and out of Russia. Meanwhile, business conducted within, into and out of Ukraine accounted for 2% of its net revenues, according to a filing on Tuesday. read more
Visa also reported that total net revenue from Russia in 2021 was about 4% of its total.
Mastercard, which has operated in Russia for 25 years, said its cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by Mastercard networks, and that any the company’s card issued outside of the Russia will not work at Russian merchants or ATMs.
Mastercard said it decided to suspend its network services in Russia following its recent action to block multiple Russian financial institutions from the company’s payment network, as required by regulators globally.
Visa also said this week it blocked multiple Russian financial institutions from its network in compliance with government sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. read more
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Reporting by John McCrank in New York; additional reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru
Editing by Megan Davies, Paul Simao and David Gregorio
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Payment and credit card giants Visa and Mastercard have blocked financial institutions from their networks in response to sanctions targeting Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, Russia launched an unprecedented invasion of Ukraine, forcing the U.S. and governments around the world to impose a series of sanctions aimed at cutting off Moscow from the global financial system.
Last week, the U.S. placed a number of Russian individuals and financial institutions on a sanctions list called the Specially Designated Nationals list. It effectively blocks U.S. companies and people from doing business with any individual or entity on that list. Washington also sanctioned Russia’s central bank on Monday.
On Monday, Mastercard said it had “blocked multiple financial institutions” from its payment network, without naming companies or individuals. “We will continue to work with regulators in the days ahead to abide fully by our compliance obligations as they evolve,” the company added.
Rival Visa has also blocked those on the sanctions list, saying Tuesday that it was “taking prompt action to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions, and are prepared to comply with additional sanctions that may be implemented.”
Visa and Mastercard also both pledged $2 million toward humanitarian relief funds for Ukraine.
It comes after the U.S., Canada and European allies agreed Saturday to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT. It means Russian banks won’t be able to communicate securely with banks beyond its borders.
The wide-ranging sanctions have caused a plunge in the value of the Russian ruble. Citizens in Russia have also been waiting in long lines to withdraw cash from ATMs.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called on major cryptocurrency exchanges to block the addresses of Russian users.
Bitcoin and other digital currencies could become a way for Russians to potentially circumvent sanctions and get their money out of the country, as cryptocurrencies are not owned or controlled by a single entity like a central bank.
Binance, the world’s largest exchange, has said it will block the accounts of Russian individuals who have been sanctioned, but stressed that it will not “unilaterally” freeze the accounts of all Russian users.
– CNBC’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
A Mastercard logo is seen on a credit card in this picture illustration August 30, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White
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March 1 (Reuters) – U.S. payment card firms Visa Inc (V.N) and Mastercard Inc have blocked multiple Russian financial institutions from their network, complying with government sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Visa said on Monday it was taking prompt action to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions, adding that it will donate $2 million for humanitarian aid. Mastercard also promised to contribute $2 million.
“We will continue to work with regulators in the days ahead to abide fully by our compliance obligations as they evolve,” Mastercard said in a separate statement late on Monday.
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The government sanctions require Visa to suspend access to its network for entities listed as Specially Designated Nationals, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The United States has added various Russian financial firms to the list, including the country’s central bank and second-largest lender VTB (VTBR.MM).
On Saturday, the U.S., Britain, Europe and Canada announced new sanctions on Russia – including blocking certain lenders’ access to the SWIFT international payment system. read more
Russians rushed to ATMs and waited in long queues on Sunday and Monday amid concerns that bank cards may cease to function, or that banks would limit cash withdrawals. read more
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation”.
Many Western banks, airlines and more have cut ties with Russia, calling the country’s actions unacceptable. European nations and Canada have shut their airspace to Russian aircraft. read more
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Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Kenneth Maxwell, Kirsten Donovan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Visa payment cards laid out on a computer keyboard.
Matt Cardy | Getty Images
Amazon has reached a global agreement with Visa to settle a dispute over the credit card giant’s fees.
The deal means Amazon customers in the U.K. can continue using Visa credit cards, as previously announced by the two companies. Amazon will also drop a 0.5% surcharge on Visa credit card transactions in Singapore and Australia, which it introduced last year.
Last month, Amazon said it had dropped plans to stop accepting Visa credit cards in Britain, two days before the change was expected to take place. The companies said at the time that they would continue talks on a broader resolution to their spat.
“We’ve recently reached a global agreement with Visa that allows all customers to continue using their Visa credit cards in our stores,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC via email. “Amazon remains committed to offering customers a payment experience that is convenient and offers choice.”
Amazon has been piling pressure on Visa to lower its fees, in a series of moves that signaled growing frustration from retailers over the costs associated with major card networks, as well as the e-commerce giant’s market power and sway over its partners.
The likes of Visa, Mastercard and American Express now face intense competition from a flood of fintech challengers, from “buy now, pay later” services like Klarna to open banking, a technology that lets start-ups effectively bypass traditional payment rails such as cards.
In an emailed statement to CNBC, Visa said its agreement with Amazon would also see the two collaborate on “new product and technology initiatives to ensure innovative payment experiences for our customers in the future.”
Both companies declined to comment further on the terms of their agreement when asked by CNBC.
Visa recently released its stellar quarterly results. With that, it is also the first quarter after the financial services company amped up its crypto offerings.
In its recent earnings call, Visa noted that its customers made $2.5 billion in payments with crypto-linked cards in its fiscal first quarter of 2022, reported CNBC.
The drivers of growth
The report also noted that this was 70% of the company’s crypto volume last fiscal. We should also recall that on the back of skyrocketing crypto demand, Visa had introduced global crypto advisory practice late last year to help clients. At that time, Head of Crypto at Visa, Cuy Sheffield had stated Visa has to play a critical role to bridge the gap between banks and the crypto ecosystem.
Now, Visa CFO Vasant Prabhu told CNBC,
“To us, this signals that consumers see the utility in having a Visa card linked to an account at a crypto platform. There’s value in being able to access that liquidity, to fund purchases and manage expenses, and to do so instantly and seamlessly.”
It is also worth noting that Visa has investments and partnerships across crypto platforms as part of its crypto adoption strategy. According to Sheffield, Visa is closely tracking the NFT sphere at the moment. Apart from that, the firm has partnered with ConsenSys, a blockchain technology company, to develop new infrastructure and services around CBDC networks.
With that, CNBC also noted that the payments company has close to 65 crypto wallet partners with names like Coinbase, Circle, and BlockFi on the list. Prabhu added,
“People are using their crypto-linked cards to spend in a variety of ways — retail goods and services, restaurants, travel. They’re increasingly being treated as a general-purpose account.”
Competition
What is noteworthy is Visa seeing spiking payment volume despite market volatility, according to the CFO. With that being said, competitor Mastercard had also announced a partnership with Bakkt back in October 2021 to provide crypto-payment integration. Now, as per the report, Mastercard and crypto exchange Gemini is on the way to launch a crypto reward-bearing card.
On the other hand, another competitor American Express might not be too keen to launch a crypto-linked card, CFO Jeff Campbell made is clear on the company’s latest earnings call.