Crypto Wallet SafePal Launches its USDC Visa Card

TL;DR

• SafePal has launched an in-app banking gateway and virtual crypto Visa card.

• The new feature intends to boost the bridging of crypto to real-world utilities.

SafePal Partners with Swiss bank Fiat24 to Launch a Crypto Visa Card

Crypto hardware wallet provider SafePal announced on Thursday that it has invested in Swiss bank Fiat24. The investment enables SafePal to launch a banking gateway for users to pay for expenses with digital assets and transfer funds to other compliant banks.

The two entities have also launched a crypto-focused Visa card and in-app banking services with the USDC stablecoin as the default deposit currency. Thanks to this latest development, users can now swap their coin holdings into USDC via Arbitrum. The USDC can then be stored in fiat currencies (USD, EUR and CHF) and used in carrying out transactions. 

While commenting on this latest development, Veronica Wong, CEO and co-founder of SafePal, told CoinDesk that,

"While this seems to be an unorthodox move for a decentralized wallet suite, inaccessibility is a pressing issue plaguing crypto users that needs to be solved for better onboarding and adoption. This will be the first truly crypto-friendly banking experience for retail users that eliminates the excessive scrutiny and restriction of traditional banks, as the accounts created via the mobile wallet will support transfers to accounts in other banks under their name in a seamless and compliant manner." 

Once users create bank accounts in the SafePal mobile wallet, their credentials are minted as NFTs on Arbitrum. This ensures that all related transactions are recorded on-chain, securely and transparently. 

SafePal also revealed that the Visa cards are linked to third-party payment platforms like PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay. At the moment, the card will only be available in selected regions in Europe before it is rolled out over the rest of the continent. However, the in-app banking gateway will be available outside of the United States and for all non-U.S.-sanctioned countries.