Singapore fintech launches USD-powered Visa card with Swiss bank Fiat24

Singapore fintech Safepal has invested in Swiss bank Fiat24 and co-launched a crypto Visa card and in-app banking service with US Coin (USDC) as the default deposit.

According to the March 7 announcement, the feature will be live on Safepal Mobile Wallet version 4.5.0, which has been approved by the Apple App Store and Google Play. “Unlike conventional Visa cards, on-chain transactions are enabled. [USDC] Arbitrum creates a transparent and immutable ledger and reverses wrongful transfers – but wrongful transfers can still be reversed by our banking system, said Yang Lan, founder of Fiat24.

Meanwhile, Safepal CEO and founder Veronica Wong explained that after users create a USDC mobile wallet, the money can be sent to accounts at traditional financial institutions. In addition, users can transfer crypto from over 40 blockchains to their bank accounts and use fiat currencies such as US dollars, euros or Swiss francs for transactions and expenses. Developers also said:

“After creating the bank accounts in the SafePal mobile wallet, the credentials are set up as NFTs on Arbitrum (Ethereum Layer 2 package), ensuring that all related transactions are securely and transparently recorded on the chain. Crypto Visa cards are also connected to third parties. Such as Paypal, Google Pay, Third-party payment platforms like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay increase convenience for consumers.

SafePal currently operates as a self-protecting wallet and claims to have around 10 million users worldwide. Shortly after the 2021-2022 crypto winter, the company's CEO Veronica Wong told Cointelegraph, “The corruption of centralized platforms has indeed led to the adoption of self-sustaining solutions. This is not just a temporary increase in demand, but should be a key incentive. Strengthening self-management for assets.”

Since the collapse of centralized financial entities such as FTX and Celcius, self-sustaining wallets have grown in popularity. On December 7, 2023, Jack Dorsey's Block launched a self-sustaining wallet solution with access to over 95 countries. In the year On August 10, 2023, BitKeep changed its name to Bitget Wallet after receiving a $30 million investment to grow its multi-chain swap platform.

Related: How to set up and create an Ethereum wallet