Visa Inc. has joined Mastercard Inc. as an investor in Deserve, the credit-card technology startup’s CEO said in an interview, according to a report from Bloomberg.
- Deserve launched a Visa credit card in partnership with cryptocurrency financial services provider BlockFi in July. The card allows customers to earn rewards in the form of bitcoin.
- Transaction volume for the card is approaching $2 billion on an annualized basis and BlockFi cardholders are projected to spend roughly $30,000 per year, 50% above that of average credit cardholders, Deserve’s co-founder and CEO Kalpesh Kapadia told Bloomberg.
- Mastercard previously invested in Palo Alto, Calif-based Deserve in June in a $50 million funding round that valued the company at more than $500 million, according to Bloomberg. Other investors in Deserve include Ally Ventures, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Sallie Mae.
- Visa didn’t immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.
Read more: Mastercard Is Integrating Crypto Payments Through a New Partnership With Bakkt
