- The joint launch with Argentine cryptocurrency trading platform Ripio promises to deepen competition with Mastercard (NYSE:MA) in Latin America.
- The card will be used to make purchases with cryptocurrencies in the commerce of Brazil.
- Master Card, meanwhile, launched its prepaid card in Argentina in early August in association with Binance.
Visa (NYSE:V) and Ripio have partnered to launch the first debit card ready for Bitcoin (BTC) purchases in Brazil. This new product is part of the aggressive commercial competition with Master Card which recently announced the launch of a new debit card in Argentina together with Binance.
After the launch in Brazil, the Ripio Visa card is expected to expand to the Argentine market and to other Latin American countries such as Uruguay, Colombia and Mexico, including Spain, where the exchange has operations.
The card that can be obtained through the Ripio website allows payments to be made with bitcoin or any of the 28 cryptocurrencies marketed by the crypto platform. It also supports operations with Brazilian Real (BRL), the local currency.
Rewards in BTC
The CEO of Ripio, Sebastián Serrano, says that the product is available for the million users that the encryption platform currently has in the country. Around 250,000 cards are expected to be issued by the end of the year.
To encourage card usage, cardholders receive a 5% cashback reward in BTC, up to a monthly fee of BRL 250. However, the company is considering adding rewards with other tokens, Serrano reported.
Ripio started operating in Brazil in 2021, after acquiring BitcoinTrade, the second largest exchange in the country, with around 300,000 users. Subsequently, it opened operations under its own brand. By the end of the year, BitcoinTrade will merge with Ripio.
The Argentine exchange house is stepping up its presence in Brazil, where it recently launched the Mercado Coin cryptocurrency, in partnership with Mercado Libre, the largest e-commerce platform in Latin America.
“This is the first large tokenization project and the first large company in Latin America to integrate cryptocurrencies, but we also believe that this is something that is going to become much more widespread and we want to be catalysts for the future,” Serrano told a Brazilian media outlet.
On the Flipside
- In early August, Mastercard announced the launch of its card in Argentina in conjunction with Binance.
- Visa and MasterCard are competing for the Latin American market with aggressive expansion plans in the region.
Why You Should Care
- Brazil is the preferred Latin American country for the launch of new products by technology companies, as it is the largest economy in the region.
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