Currently cryptos are a volatile investment, but major card companies such as Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. believe that soon in the future it will be used for daily consumer retails, and they don’t want to be left behind by this trend. Consumers can now pay for many things with cryptocurrencies through cards issued by fintech companies in cooperation with Visa and Mastercard, and the payment generally rely on third parties converting the cryptos to local currencies for the merchants. Besides the payment conversions, some U.S. merchants including AT&T Inc., Overstock.com Inc., and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. are accepting direct cryptocurrency payments from customers. Although bypassing debit and credit card fees, the merchants and consumers are now exposed to cybersecurity risks where their crypto could vanish due to hacks.
In 2021, hacks and scams have caused significant monetary loss for large cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms, which totaled up to $14 billion USD. To fight the issue and protect general consumers from the risk, the New Jersey-based card company CompoSecure Inc. filed a patent for their metal credit cards called “Arculus”, which could be used to securely store, trade, and pay cryptos to merchants. The card was introduced last year, in cooperation with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and American Express Co.
To trade the cryptos, Arculus users need to open the app using their fingerprint or face, type in a PIN, and tap the metal card on their phone in order for the transaction to go through. Currently, the company claims that it’s in discussion with major card issuers and others who are looking at adding the company’s security feature to the chips that are on standard debit and credit cards.
Sources Used:
- Cryptocurrency Is Coming To Your Credit Cards, The Wall Street Journal
- Crypto scammers took a record $14 billion in 2021, CNBC