Mastercard today introduced Crypto Source, a new programme to enable financial institutions to bring secure crypto trading capabilities and services to their customers.
In a statement, the firm says the 2022 Mastercard New Payments Index reported that 29% of respondents globally hold crypto-currency as an investment, with another 65% indicating a preference for crypto-related services to be provided by their current trusted financial institution.
In partnership with regulated and licensed crypto custody providers, Mastercard’s financial institution partners will gain access to a suite of buy, hold and sell services for select crypto assets, augmented with proven identity, cyber, security and advisory services, says the financial services provider.
It adds the Crypto Source offering is complemented by Mastercard Crypto Secure to bring additional security to the crypto ecosystem and support card issuers in their compliance with complex regulations.
“At Mastercard, trust is our business. What we are announcing today is a connected approach to services that will help bring users safely and securely into the crypto ecosystem,” says Ajay Bhalla, president of cyber and intelligence at Mastercard.
“Our recent investments in this space, such as the acquisition of CipherTrace and Ekata, are providing us with a unique set of capabilities to help provide our customers and partners with the most technically advanced solutions available in the market.”
To support this programme, Bhalla says, Mastercard is expanding its partnership and work with Paxos Trust, a regulated blockchain infrastructure platform.
“The partnership aims for Paxos to provide crypto-asset trading and custody services on behalf of the banks, while Mastercard will leverage its technology to integrate those capabilities into banks’ interfaces, resulting in a seamless experience for the consumer.”
“Our commitment is simple – to explore crypto and the underlying digital assets technology to support consumer choice in payments,” says Jorn Lambert, chief digital officer at Mastercard.
“Today is an exciting step in our crypto journey that draws on the strengths of our global businesses, from open banking and identity verification, to analytics and fraud monitoring, to settlement solutions. We’re excited to build on our long-term partnership with Paxos – co-innovating to bring safe and secure technology to financial institutions. Our crypto product innovations will provide choice at scale and continue to bring one-of-a-kind opportunities to financial institutions as they seek to offer new, advanced services to their customers.”
“Mastercard has a powerful network of financial institutions around the world. This exciting offering developed by Paxos and Mastercard will give FIs [financial institutions] the fastest and most trusted way to offer safe, reliable crypto access for their consumers globally. We’re thrilled to partner with Mastercard to further accelerate the mainstream adoption of digital assets,” says Walter Hessert, head of strategy at Paxos.
Mastercard says over the past few years, it has been working alongside its customers and partners to bring new services and capabilities that help make crypto more accessible, safe and secure.
It notes these efforts have been complemented with the addition of new technologies through Finicity, Ekata, RiskRecon and CipherTrace.
According to the company, this combination of services provides eligible financial institutions the opportunity to directly manage crypto asset investments for consumers.
It notes Mastercard Crypto Source is currently being prepared for pilot programmes, and additional details on broader availability will be made available at a later date.
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