Credit card colossus VISA might be 64 years old, but they’re no boomers when it comes to new tech. VISA has been notoriously quick to adapt to and integrate new technologies, including crypto payments and NFTs. They even bought a ‘Crypto Punk’ NFT for $150,000, and now they’ve been eyeing a golden opportunity in the metaverse space with recent applications for patents.
VISA Patents for Payments
On the 27th of October this year, licensed trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis shared two recent trademark applications for Visa. These filings could signal that the credit card company may be developing or launching their own digital asset wallet and looking to move into the metaverse.
According to records sent to the United States Patent and Trademark Office earlier this week, there have been two trademarks filed by VISA. These two covered everything from managing digital cryptocurrency transactions to crypto wallets, NFTs, virtual goods, and even providing virtual environments. The latter definitely suggests that VISA might be looking for an entryway into the metaverse.
If these trademarks are approved, there’s a good chance we’ll see VISA announce a crypto asset wallet or new software for managing and using digital currencies. Clearly, the firm intends to be a player in the metaverse—they previously partnered with software and design agency Lemon&Orange to co-create a PR campaign which involved an augmented reality zoo, so this isn’t the firm’s first foray into the metaverse.
VISA Offering Crypto Credit Cards
Visa has introduced branded crypto cards before and this is just another of its efforts to use new technologies in order to gain an advantage. As far back as April, they filed other trademarks for Metaverse payment processing and NFT-backed media.
The world's largest credit card company, Mastercard, has also filed trademark applications with the USPTO. In April 2021, Mastercard applied to use their logo in the metaverse and display it in NFTs—mere months later in October Mastercard announced that it would be introducing its NFT program to support the crypto industry long-term.
Mastercard also partnered with industry-leading crypto firms like Blockchain.com, aiming to be ahead of the curve when it comes to the future of e-commerce. This partnership facilitated a crypto debit card—clearly, card companies are also jumping on the virtual metaverse bandwagon in a bid to keep up with changing times.
And this wasn’t the only major partnership: VISA themselves have partnered with FTX, perhaps the world’s biggest crypto exchange, to introduce crypto debit cards in over 40 countries. VISAhas also been linked to investment banking giant JP Morgan, with both organizations working on private blockchains to help with cross-border transactions.
Last year, Visa CEO Charles Scharf said that the company would be interested in taking Bitcoin if there was adequate demand from customers. This made it even more clear that Visa has plans to take over the digital wallet space, so it's possible for a digital wallet to show up in your near future.
