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The push to increase the utility of cryptocurrency for purchases got a shot in the arm Friday as BitPay Inc., an Atlanta-based processor that offers crypto e-wallets, announced its prepaid Mastercard cardholders can add their card to the Apple Wallet and make purchases using Apple Pay.
The BitPay Mastercard is funded through the conversion of cryptocurrency to dollars that are then loaded onto the card. Cardholders can use the card to make purchases in-store and online, as well as withdraw cash from ATMs.
“There is growing demand for cryptocurrency to have more utility for payment,” says Bill Zielke, chief marketing officer for BitPay. “Our users want to live their life on cryptocurrency, and adding our card to the Apple Wallet and enabling it to be used for purchases through Apple Pay is a feature that our customers want.”
In addition to supporting Bitcoin, the BitPay Wallet app supports Bitcoin Cash and Ether, as well as four stablecoins pegged to the dollar, USDC, GUSD, PAX, and BUSD.
BitPay plans also to enable its wallet and prepaid card to be supported by the Google Pay and Samsung Pay wallets. Those agreements are expected to be announced later in the first quarter, Zielke says.
“Many of our users have Android phones and want options beyond Apple Pay to utilize their cryptocurrency assets, which is why we are working with Google Pay and Samsung Pay,” Zielke says. One factor driving demand for cards backed by digital currency is that merchant acceptance for crypto is lagging, according to Zielke. “Consumers aren’t waiting for merchants to come around to cryptocurrency, and cards funded with cryptocurrency are a way to sidestep the lack of merchant acceptance,” he says.
