Payments giant Mastercard is bringing a new suite of crypto-related offerings to banks and fintech companies.
In an Oct. 17 announcement, Mastercard said it had launched a new program called “Crypto Source” that will let financial institutions integrate crypto trading capabilities.
Mastercard will partner with traditional banking firms and provide them with the technology to facilitate buying, selling and holding cryptocurrencies. The new program will also offer crypto analytics, transaction monitoring, anti-money laundering tools and biometrics as an added layer of security for banks looking to delve into crypto offerings.
Last year, Mastercard partnered with blockchain infrastructure firm Paxos to create a simplified payments card for crypto companies. The payments firm now plans to expand this partnership with Paxos, who will custody the crypto assets on behalf of banks while Mastercard handles integration and compliance functions.
“Our commitment is simple – to explore crypto and the underlying digital assets technology to support consumer choice in payments,” said Jorn Lambert, Chief Digital Officer at Mastercard, in a statement.
Although retail crypto investors have had a tough year faced with massive drawdowns in crypto prices, institutional investors appear to be seemingly undeterred by the bear market.
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald last month, Irfan Ahmad, State Street’s digital lead for Asia Pacific, said institutions continued to place strategic bets on the asset class during the months of June and July.
“Certainly, our clients, they’ve been speaking to us more pragmatically about how they might be able to launch products, or what our capabilities may be in the future to help them support the launch of those products,” said Ahmad to the Sydney Morning Herald.
