FV Bank, the fast-growing U.S. licensed international challenger bank and digital asset custodian, has confirmed that it has been approved as a Principal Member of Visa.
As mentioned in the announcement, this is an important milestone in further solidifying FV Bank as a key market player and full service bank providing traditional banking services along with crypto custody and now issuance of Visa cards as well.
The new card issuing capability represents “an evolution of FV Bank’s vertically-integrated product suite to serve institutional and retail clients who transact in fiat and cryptocurrencies and who are not currently catered to by the traditional banking sector,” according to an update shared with CI.
As stated in a release, the first bank in Puerto Rico with an Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF) digital asset custody license, FV Bank is also the first Fintech, blockchain and crypto-focused bank to offer institutional clients a hybrid solution — “marrying integrated traditional banking services including payments with the upcoming ability to hold fiat and digital assets in the same account and the facility to seamlessly convert digital assets to fiat currency.”
The Visa debit card will aim to “complement its suite of services and is planned to be available to FV bank business and individual account holders by the end of 2021 on a waitlist basis.”
As noted in the release:
“Whereas all existing crypto-linked card programs are on an individual basis only, FV Bank’s Visa card will give its businesses account holders the option to obtain cards for multiple authorised employees — all drawn from one business account.”
Miles Paschini, co-founder and CEO, FV Bank, said that historically, the cards provided in the market that had been “somewhat” compatible with crypto-assets have been offered “only by a fragmented patchwork of program managers and non-bank Fintechs.”
FV Bank co-founder Nitin Agarwal remarked:
“FV bank plans to introduce credit card versions in early 2022 which will enable users to leverage digital assets as collateral for credit lines which will be accessible via the FV Bank Visa card. There is a huge demand for customers who do not want to sell their crypto but want access to spendable funds.”
Luis Guerra, Country Manager Visa Puerto Rico, added:
“Thanks to its global presence, partnership approach and trusted brand, Visa can help make digital currencies useful and applicable for payments. Visa’s work in the digital currency field is seen as an extension of its broader network-of-networks strategy, which is focused on enhancing various forms of money movement, whether on the Visa network or beyond. We are pleased to welcome FV Bank as Principal Member license and are thrilled about the fact that they will habilitate Cryptocurrency linked to Visa Card Programs.”
Established in 2018 by payments entrepreneurs Miles Paschini and Nitin Agarwal, FV Bank provides an online-only banking platform that “meets the need for more open access to banking for FinTech, blockchain, and cryptocurrency companies.”
Operating on a B2B2C model, FV Bank aims to serve corporate, institutional, and family office clients and their respective customers, “creating a global network of connected users,” the announcement noted.
FV Bank has finalized an $8 million Series A round. The proceeds will be directed towards supporting the bank’s digital asset custody unit and Visa Principal Membership.