Asia Pacific Now Has a New Crypto-enabled Debit Card

Crypto neobank Wirex is partnering with global payments giant Visa to expand its influence in the Asia-Pacific market.

This latest partnership enables Wirex to issue crypto-enabled debit cards to over 40 different countries across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, the UK, Europe and the US.

The London-based neobank has over 5 million customers — most of them based in the UK. 

Although it previously withdrew its registration from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), all crypto activity the company practices in the UK is facilitated through a license it obtained through its subsidiary, Wirex Digital — which is registered in Croatia. 

Over the past year, Wirex has been actively making moves in the APAC market. Most recently, it became a finalist for the Global Fintech Award at the Singapore Fintech Festival in November 2022. 

“We’re excited that Wirex is expanding their focus on Asia Pacific, making it easy and seamless for people to spend their crypto balance at the millions of merchants that accept Visa in the region,” Matt Wood, Visa’s head of digital partnerships for the Asia-Pacific region, said in a statement.

“Visa wants to bring more payment options to consumers by connecting digital currencies with our network of banks and merchants,” he added.

This will not be the first time Wirex and Visa will be partnering together. The companies previously worked on developing crypto-enabled Visa debit cards together in the US.

“It’s great to strengthen our partnership with Visa, who have played an important role in allowing us to bridge the gap between the traditional and digital economies,” Svyatoslav Garal, regional managing director of Wirex APAC, said in a statement. 

“Visa’s proven commitment to safety, security and innovation will help us to continue developing a next-generation app and card,” Garal said.

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