Just-In: VISA Launches Cryptocurrency Financial Advisory Arm For Institutions

VISA, the payment processing giant has launched its cryptocurrency financial advisory arm for institutions, in a bid to expand its crypto-focused services. The crypto advisory services would be housed within the consulting and analytics division and it would help Visa clients to navigate their way through the vast crypto space.

Visa said the crypto advisory group would help financial institutions, retail giants, and other businesses in their crypto venture, be it rolling out crypto features or exploring the popular Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). The payment processor also revealed that American bank UMB has become its first client and they are already using its crypto advisory services.

Nikola Plecas, Visa’s European crypto lead said:

“Crypto for us is a huge new vertical and growth opportunity. And we will be continuing to focus on growing this business moving forward,”

VISA Processed $3.5 Billion in Crypto Payments

Visa has come a long way from blocking crypto transactions on its platform up to 2019 and now trying to become a leading payment processor in the crypto market. The payment gateway giant processed $3.5 billion in crypto-linked transactions on its network from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021.

Earlier in the first quarter of 2021, Visa has said that it would focus on becoming the largest gateway for crypto in the coming future. Apart from offering customers and merchants to accept crypto payments, the payment processor is now looking to venture into the NFT world as well. Visa paid $150,000 for the popular NFT collectible crypto punks.

Cuy Sheffield, head of the crypto at Visa had said:

“We think that NFTs are going to play a really important role in the future of retail and social media, entertainment and commerce. So we wanted to understand firsthand what it takes to acquire, custody, and interact with an NFT. We’ve worked with Anchorage to do this so that we can build the expertise and be better positioned to help clients navigate this space.”

The new crypto advisory group would also offer its services for NFT lunches and use them for brand promotions.