Visa is once again involved in launching an anonymous debit card eligible for crypto top-ups, thanks to a project by ZELF, a US-based fintech company. The card currently supports USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT) and Ethereum (ETH).
Visa: launched a new anonymous debit card reloadable with crypto
ZELF, a US fintech company, has launched its new Visa anonymous debit card that can be topped up with cryptocurrencies.
This is an “anonymous” card, in that users who open a ZELF account only need to provide their name, email and phone number to use it. There is no need to provide any social security number or proof of address like opening a bank account.
At the moment, the new Visa debit card supports USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT) and Ethereum (ETH), but ZELF said it plans to add support for 20 more tokens by the end of the year.
By choosing the Visa circuit, ZELF’s new card will be able to be used at any of Visa’s 80 million payment points worldwide and thus be topped up through crypto or even traditional electronic payments.
Visa involved attracting more customers to cryptocurrencies
ZELF called its collaboration with Visa a way to ensure the privacy and security of users who wish to use crypto to make their purchases.
Not only that, Elliot Goykhman, founder and CEO of ZELF, also said that reducing verification requirements is key to attracting more customers to cryptocurrencies and helping people who do not have bank accounts to access financial services.
Thus, this is a move to also achieve financial inclusion, something Visa is already a proponent of. And indeed, last October, the Visa circuit announced a partnership with another fintech company, Thunes, to expand their access to digital wallets that connect emerging markets with the rest of the world.
Through the integration of Visa Direct on Thunes’ B2B payments platform, financial institutions, governments, new banks and money transfer operators will be able to use the new functionality to enable small business consumers to send funds to markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Focus on cybersecurity as digital fraudsters evolve
In October, Visa released reports focused on the importance of cybersecurity in the expanding digital payments industry, highlighting how fraudsters are increasingly evolving and innovative.
With the pandemic occurrence, in addition to the increase in the number of digital money transactions, the number of digital fraudsters has also increased.
Indeed, according to data, annual losses due to cybercrime in the US have nearly doubled between 2019 and 2021, from $3.5 billion to $6.9 billion.
Thus, for this very reason, it is necessary for Visa to fortify security against theft and fraud as a matter of urgency, especially calculating the evolution of new criminals who enact even more sophisticated crimes.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2022/12/13/visa-anonymous-card-crypto/