Virtual numbers (tokens) are used as a substitute for a cardholder’s primary account number (PAN) in payment wallets (in phones and watches) and when stored at a merchant’s data center (to handle recurring purchases) as well as in nonpayment applications to replace personally identifiable information (PII).
Providing a risk assessment on consumer purchases from Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) is the aim of Crypto Secure, a service Mastercard is making available to card issuers worldwide. VASPs are 3,600 crypto exchanges and other companies that sell digital currencies.
FTX, a crypto exchange, has partnered with Visa to offer FTX-branded debit cards to customers in more than 40 countries. Cards are currently available in the US and will be offered in Europe later this year.
Payments made for purchases of games, apps, subscriptions (cable TV, telecom, mobile) and streaming services reached $230 billion in 2021—app store spending was $170 billion and streaming entertainment was $60 billion.
Mastercard partnered with Hi, a crypto exchange and app provider, to produce personalized debit cards featuring the image of an NFT avatar the cardholder already owns. The Hi card will support NFTs from approved collections, which include CryptoPunks, Moonbirds, Goblins, Bored Apes and Azukis.
Merchant acquiring assets at Worldline in the Asia-Pacific region include its majority ownership (51%-49%) in ANZ’s portfolio of merchant services contracts for the bank’s customers in Australia, ownership of Paymark in New Zealand, operations in India and a new business in Japan. The company also has offices in Singapore and China.
Amsterdam-based Adyen, Europe’s seventh largest merchant acquirer, will soon begin marketing two mobile point-of-sale devices. Both were designed in-house and operate on the Adyen platform.
NearPay, a crypto protocol provider, launched virtual-card and digital-wallet services for residents of the EEA and the UK. The NearPay Wallet is available for iOS and Android operating systems and supports 38 cryptocurrencies.
UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express and Diners Club brand credit, debit and prepaid cards issued in the Asia–Pacific region accounted for $21.060 trillion in purchase volume for goods and services in 2021, up 10.7% on a local currency basis from 2020.
Real-world applications that leverage the great power of quantum computing technology are not years away from making a commercial impact as many IT department heads believe. Financial institutions including Bank of Canada, BBVA and CaixaBank are already working with the technology, which uses the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that are too complex for legacy, silicon-based “classical” computers.
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