Visa: ‘No One Embraces Digital Currency Benefits More Than Us’

A senior Visa executive has said “no one” is more receptive of digital currency’s “benefits” than the international payment platform.

In an interview with Huffington Post, head of global Merchant sales and solutions Jack Forestell said Visa’s mobile products for the developing world - specifically mVisa - were “opening doors” for unbanked citizens.

“This type of digital solution has helped open doors for people who were previously off-the-grid or unbanked, which in turn has created entrepreneurial opportunities and reduce friction in how people pay and get paid,” he said.

Entry into Blockchain
When asked about Visa’s approach to cashless societies, Forestell said “customer demand” formed the basis of the company’s roadmap.

“We are creating incentives for merchants to remain competitively connected to their consumers and grow with their consumers. As the world’s largest payments technology company, no one embraces the benefits of digital currency more than we do.”

While Visa is traditionally thought of as the major competitor to the Bitcoin-based inclusive economy, the payments giant has accelerated its entry into Blockchain adoption this year.

Last month, job advertisements began surfacing specifically targeting Blockchain engineers with experience in so-called distributed ledger technology - the preferred term for permissioned Blockchains which run under centralized control.

In the race to serve the billions of people shut out of the traditional banking system, Blockchain startups using cryptocurrency - principally Bitcoin - have been at work creating a market for several years.

BitPesa, which operates money transfer services in Kenya and internationally, earlier this month made the top spot in a list of top 50 Blockchain startups from CEX.io.