Payments Firm Wirex Becomes Visa Principal Member Ahead of Crypto Card Launch

Payments platform Wirex announced Tuesday that it has become a principal member of Visa in Europe.

• Coming after the U.K.-licensed firm completed the Visa FinTech Fast Track Programme, Wirex now has permission to issue Visa cards, sell related products and apply for additional licenses.
• "We're excited to work with innovative fintechs like Wirex and enable their customers to use digital currencies at more than 61 million merchants on the Visa network," said Cuy Sheffield, senior director and head of cryptocurrency at Visa. 
• Wirex was granted principal member status of Mastercard back in July.
• The company said it offers fiat and cryptocurrency payment services to over three million people across the European Economic Area and Asia-Pacific region. It's soon to launch its own debit card allowing payments in both fiat and digital currencies.
• Wirex has had a crypto partnership with with Japanese financial firm SBI Holdings since 2017. Last year, it also launched 26 stablecoins on the Stellar blockchain network.

See also: Wirex Taps Railsbank to Replace Scandal-Struck Wirecard as Asia-Pacific Card Provider