Visa Users Can Now Withdraw Crypto to a Debit Card
Users of both software and hardware crypto wallets can now directly transfer cryptocurrency to their bank accounts, thanks to a partnership between Visa Direct and Transak, a Web3 infrastructure developer.
This collaboration enables users of almost all widely-used crypto wallets to convert over 40 types of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Dogecoin, into fiat currency and directly withdraw it to Visa cards. This circumvents the need for intermediary conversion steps through stablecoins or resorting to ambiguous cash-out practices.
Services from Transak are already featured in platforms like MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, Ledger, Splinterlands, and Decentraland.
User benefits include:
- Transaction completion times of up to 30 minutes.
- The ability to withdraw funds from more than 300 digital storage solutions across 150 countries where Visa is accepted.
- Access to over 130 million Visa-accepting merchant locations.
- Transak ensures adherence to KYC and AML standards, ensuring the security and legality of transactions.
- The conversion bridge, integrated via API, extends beyond wallets to blockchain games and metaverses.
Partners' views on the collaboration
Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, North America Head of Visa Direct, believes the collaboration with Transak is “delivering a faster, simpler and more connected experience for its users — making it easier to convert crypto balances into fiat.”
Lorenzo Santos, Senior Product Manager at MetaMask: “This development opens up new horizons for MetaMask users around the world. We are excited to announce that cryptocurrency withdrawals from our wallet to a bank card are now available to the Web3 community.”
Sami Start, Co-founder & CEO of Transak: “We believe this partnership is an inflection point for Web3 as a whole. Now, millions across the globe have a straightforward way to cashout their digital asset holdings to their local currency in real-time and intuitively. They no longer have to walk the treacherous path of compliance uncertainty or face risks of fraud — Transak and Visa have them covered for over 40 cryptocurrencies.”
Visa and Cryptocurrencies
Visa has been actively investing in the advancement of blockchain technology and is eager to form alliances with crypto enterprises. Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, believes blockchain is as undervalued today as the internet was in its early days.
In 2020, Visa partnered with Circle to add capabilities for USDC transactions. In December 2022, it introduced a service for recurring automatic payments within the Ethereum ecosystem. By 2023, it had embraced USD payments on the Solana blockchain and formed a partnership for issuing a debit card with the crypto bank Wirex.
This partnership marks a significant step forward in making cryptocurrency withdrawals to bank cards more user-friendly. Visa appears to be leading the charge in the blockchain technology race, leaving its main competitor, Mastercard, trailing.
