Digital Financial services provider Tala has collaborated with VISA to make it easier for consumers to store, and use cryptocurrencies on a daily basis with USD Coin (USDC).
The collaboration will also involve Circle, the company behind USDC, and the Stellar Development Foundation that oversees the XLM cryptocurrency.
Tala Taps VISA For USDC Payments
According to a statement released by Tala, the fintech firm will provide access to USDC via its digital wallet.
The partnership with VISA will enable Tala to issue VISA cards linked to the wallet, thereby enabling customers to use their USDC balances anywhere they are in the world.
Tala’s mission of banking the unbanked will be aided through this partnership.
USDC is a stablecoin backed by the US dollar and governed by the Centre Consortium. It’s currently supported on the Ethereum, Algorand, Solana, and Stellar blockchains.
USDC 0.06% USD Coin / USD USDCUSD $ 1.00
$0.000.06% Volume 2.03 b Change $0.00 Open $1.00 Circulating 25.75 b Market Cap 25.78 b 1 d Yield Compression Continues as More Money Seeks Yield while Avoiding Capitulation 1 w Interoperability Project Ren Integrates With Solana, Adds Direct Bridge For Bitcoin 1 w Solana Leads $3M Funding Round in Blockchain Data Platform PARSIQ ETH 1.86% Ethereum / USD ETHUSD $ 1,824.40
$33.931.86% Volume 19.88 b Change $33.93 Open $1,824.40 Circulating 116.46 m Market Cap 212.47 b 5 h 21Shares Launches First SOL ETP, Goldman Sachs Report Talks About the “Faster” Solana Blockchain 1 d Digital Assets AG Introduces Free-Floating Tokenized Stocks On Solana Blockchain 1 d Yield Compression Continues as More Money Seeks Yield while Avoiding Capitulation ALGO -0.19% Algorand / USD ALGOUSD $ 0.80
$0.00-0.19% Volume 91.66 m Change $0.00 Open $0.80 Circulating 3.09 b Market Cap 2.46 b 5 h 21Shares Launches First SOL ETP, Goldman Sachs Report Talks About the “Faster” Solana Blockchain 1 mon Tether (USDT) Launches on Avalanche Which is Burning Fees at Increasing Speed 1 mon Tala Partners With VISA To Drive USDC Adoption in Emerging Markets SOL 6.93% Solana / USD SOLUSD $ 30.45
$2.116.93% Volume 480.03 m Change $2.11 Open $30.45 Circulating 272.64 m Market Cap 8.3 b 5 h 21Shares Launches First SOL ETP, Goldman Sachs Report Talks About the “Faster” Solana Blockchain 1 d Digital Assets AG Introduces Free-Floating Tokenized Stocks On Solana Blockchain 1 d Solana-based Pyth Network Partners with High-Frequency Trading Firm Virtu Financial After GTX & Jump Trading XLM 3.44% Stellar / USD XLMUSD $ 0.25
$0.013.44% Volume 403.3 m Change $0.01 Open $0.25 Circulating 23.2 b Market Cap 5.71 b 2 w Flare Network Raises $11 Million in Funding to Bring Smart Contracts to All Blockchains 3 w Coinbase Card Users Can Now Spend Crypto on Apple Pay & Google Pay; 2.49% Fee on Every Purchase 1 mon Stellar Dev Foundation Invests $15M in AirTM to Improve Latin American Cross-Border Transfers
Speaking on the new partnership, Shivani Siroya, Tala’s CEO and founder, said digital currencies have tremendous potential to open financial access and put more control directly into the hands of underbanked and underestimated people. Siroya said excitedly,
“We couldn’t be more excited that Visa, Circle, and the Stellar Development Foundation share our vision and want to work on a solution, not only for Tala’s six million global customers but for the billions more who can benefit.”
VISA’s crypto involvement has largely centered around Circle and its USD coin over the past few months.
In December, the credit card company partnered with Circle to drive USDC adoption into VISA’s network of digital wallets. The partnership saw VISA work with Circle to enable customers to send and receive USDC payments to businesses supported by VISA.
Founded in 2011, Tala is a California-based lending platform that has provided over $2 billion in credit to over 6 million customers in countries such as Mexico, the Philippines, Kenya, and India in the form of micro-loans.
The fintech company is focused on emerging markets and provides instant credit scoring, lending, and other personalized financial services all through its smartphone app, Tala.
The company raised over $200 million in funding, including a $110 million Series D in August 2019, from PayPal Ventures, RPS Ventures, and GGV Capital.
The partnership marks the first major crypto project for Tala, which recently expanded its product suite to provide a fuller scope of financial services to consumers in developing economies.
Stirring Stablecoin Use In Emerging Markets
Having seen the advent of cryptocurrencies being used for payments, especially Bitcoin, which an increasing number of companies has supported, it seems companies have also realized that there is a clear need for Stablecoin payments on blockchains as well. BTC 3.54% Bitcoin / USD BTCUSD $ 32,745.03
$1,159.173.54% Volume 36.17 b Change $1,159.17 Open $32,745.03 Circulating 18.74 m Market Cap 613.76 b 5 h 21Shares Launches First SOL ETP, Goldman Sachs Report Talks About the “Faster” Solana Blockchain 1 d NYDIG Collaborates with Q2 to Allow its 18.3M Registered Users to Buy, Sell and Hold Bitcoin 1 d Yield Compression Continues as More Money Seeks Yield while Avoiding Capitulation
Some have argued that Bitcoin is too volatile to be used for payments. And with this, stablecoins are sought after since they help protect against currency fluctuations and foreign exchange (FX) conversion fees in international transactions.
Stablecoins brings the alternative of value-added risk management, cash management, onboarding, and more that are consolidated with existing fiat currency services.
Jimmy Aki
