Mastercard partners with Immersve to enable crypto payments

Global payments company, Mastercard, has partnered with Immersve, a Web3 payment protocol, to enable users to make cryptocurrency payments on digital, physical, and metaverse platforms.

This collaboration will use USDC tokens, a stablecoin backed by the US dollar and issued by Circle. When a user completes a transaction, their USDC tokens will be converted to fiat currency and used to settle transactions on Mastercard’s network.

The Mastercard-Immersve partnership will use decentralised protocols to process real-time cryptocurrency transactions on outlets that accept Mastercard payments online. This allows users to use their existing Web3 wallets to make direct cryptocurrency payments without needing a third party for collateral. Immersve will partner with a third-party settlement provider to allow its users to use USDC for all purchases.

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹. 💳🤝💫@immersve, a @futureverse company, has partnered with payments giant @Mastercard to enable humans to transact directly from their web3 wallet, both IRL and in the metaverse, wherever Mastercard is accepted.https://t.co/ozsw5UnYkv

— Futureverse (@futureverse) February 21, 2023

To access this feature, users can use their private keys to approve payments through popular Web3 wallets like Metamask. The process of transactions will be as easy as scanning a QR code and clicking “approve” on the user’s crypto wallet. If you are familiar with Bitcoin’s Lightning network or have bought NFTs on OpenSea, this will be almost the same experience.

Jerome Faury, the CEO of Immersve, expressed his optimism about the potential of cryptocurrency going mainstream, saying, “Collaborating with a well-known and trusted brand like Mastercard is a big step towards mainstream adoption of Web3 wallets.”

Immersve’s APIs and smart contracts can integrate with Web3 wallets and decentralised finance protocols to transact anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

Over the years, Mastercard has forged partnerships with many Web3 companies in a move to become a major player in the burgeoning crypto ecosystem. For instance, they partnered with Binance, a popular crypto exchange, to launch a prepaid card in Brazil that allows real-time crypto-fiat conversions for 14 tokens in the country.

Olá, Brasil! 🇧🇷#Binance Card has just launched in Brazil – another step towards crypto adoption 🤝 pic.twitter.com/UJRmpMhpbQ

— Binance (@binance) January 30, 2023

Mastercard has also partnered with top cryptocurrency service providers in the Asia Pacific region to launch crypto-funded Mastercard payment cards. These include Amber Group, Bitkub in Thailand, and CoinJar in Australia. Aside from collaborations, the payments giant has one of the biggest blockchain patent portfolios in the industry with over 89 blockchain patents and an additional 285 blockchain applications pending worldwide.