International payment systems will take more harsh measures against cryptocurrencies: MasterCard imposes a ban on Monday, while Visa will enact same in December.
MasterCard and Visa are introducing tougher measures against unregulated assets, including cryptocurrencies, a source familiar with the new rules said in an interview with Finance Magnates. The main audience for future transaction bans are blockchain and cryptocurrency companies operating in countries with weak regulation. The introduction of new measures in MasterCard is scheduled for Monday, and Visa plans to introduce new rules in December.
In March, MasterCard declared its readiness to work only with state cryptocurrencies, and in April, the company attributed the cryptocurrency industry to high-risk industries, which means that additional measures must be taken within 540 days.
The Visa company, the head of which stated that cryptocurrencies are used by fraudsters and politicians who are not clean, has also repeatedly threatened to take tough measures in relation to cryptocurrencies and ICO projects.
Customers of payment companies and brokers whose business will be in doubt after the introduction of prohibitions on carrying out transactions, undoubtedly prepare workarounds using alternative transaction processing companies. For example, in May of this year, the former CEO of Visa went to a crypto startup, which uses cryptocurrencies to process daily payments.
At the same time, companies themselves are actively using the technology behind cryptocurrency. For example, Mastercard is, along with Alibaba and IBM, the leader in the number of applications for blockchain patents. For instance, this week the company received a patent for a system that can support various types of blockchains and carry out operations in several cryptocurrencies, and in July Mastercard received a patent for the method of accelerating cryptocurrency transactions.
