Unbanked and Mastercard partner to boost crypto card adoption in Europe

By Gloria Methri

Unbanked has teamed up with Mastercard, to accelerate decentralilsed finance (DeFi) card issuance in Europe. Through this partnership, the two firms will use their existing footprint in the UK and Europe to work with Web3 organizations and enable the issuance of cryptocurrency-powered card programs.

“At Mastercard, we believe in offering choice to consumers and businesses on how they want to pay and be paid. This initiative with Unbanked is to testament to that as we work to accelerate the issuance of crypto cards and empower choice in the market, knowing that it comes with the safety, security, and protections they would expect from our network,” said Christian Rau, Senior Vice President FinTech, and Crypto Enablement for Mastercard Europe.

Unbanked has worked with the Litecoin Foundation to offer the Litecoin Card to residents of the US for more than two years. With the Unbanked and Mastercard partnership, the Litecoin Card program will be made available to residents in the UK and Europe – reaching approximately 84% of the population.

“There has been a lot of anticipation from the Litecoin community on when more countries would become available, so everyone at Litecoin Foundation is very excited for this expansion of the Litecoin Card to residents of the UK and Europe,” said Charlie Lee, creator of Litecoin. “Unbanked has been a fantastic partner who delivered an LTC-powered card program within the US when others were unable to, and Litecoin Foundation looks forward to working with them to scale access even further.”

The Unbanked platform supports many of the Web3 industries’ largest players by enabling companies to create a custom-branded experience for their user base. White-label card issuance, crypto wallets, bank accounts, and more can be set up via the Unbanked API and connected to a mobile or web interface.

“I am thrilled to be working with Mastercard to open crypto card programs in the UK, Europe, and abroad,” said Ian Kane Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Unbanked.