Visa (NYSE: V) will soon be offering a card that accumulates Bitcoin rewards rather than airline miles, points, or cash. The card will be co-branded with the Bitcoin-friendly shopping app, and San Fransisco-based startup, Fold.
According to Bloomberg News, as much as 10 percent of the cash purchases made using the card will be credited to users in Bitcoin. These Bitcoins can be saved in a virtual "wallet" on the Fold app where users can also spend the Bitcoin on dollar-denominated gift-cards for businesses such as Uber (NYSE: UBER) and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX).
"You manage everything within [the Fold app], your card details, your rewards," Fold's Chief Executive Officer Will Reeves said in an interview. "We're able to send out to your wallet of choice. ... You don't have to wait to accrue too much of it [bitcoin]."
Reeves says that this card will help bring a new wave of consumers to the cryptocurrency market place. According to Reeves, an email poll of Fold users found that roughly 90 percent of those surveyed said they would "switch spending away from their existing card" to one that offered Bitcoin rewards for spending.
"People are not interested in spending Bitcoin right now, but are interested in accumulating it," Reeves said in an interview. "If people don't understand Bitcoin as money yet, they certainly will understand it as a better reward."
This isn't the first time that Visa has been involved in crypto-currencies. In 2018 the company had a dispute with Coinbase Inc. over issues they had related to purchases made using Visa cards. Then, in February of this year, Visa announced they would be releasing a Coinbase Card with the company meant to allow users to spend Bitcoin using their Visa debit cards.
Fold is the newest addition to Visa's Fast Track program, an effort meant to encourage fintechs to work with the company.
The new card will be shipped in July, but Reeves has declined to comment on which banks are backing the card.