Digital asset manager Nexo has partnered with global payments giant Mastercard to launch a Mastercard-backed crypto card in selected European markets.
Dubbed the Nexo Card, the card offers users a crypto-backed credit line, enabling cardholders to use their cryptocurrency as collateral, rather than selling it. To launch the card, Nexo has teamed up with DiPocket, which will act as Nexo’s card issuer for European markets.
In a release accompanying the announcement, Nexo co-founder and managing partner Antoni Trenchev, called the launch of the Nexo Card a "big milestone," adding that the partnership with Mastercard and DiPocket is "the latest proof of the immense synergy between the existing financial network and digital assets."
Mastercard’s head of crypto and blockchain products and partnerships. Raj Dhamodharan, added that, "digital assets are revolutionizing the financial landscape," and that the card offered customers "new and one-of-a-kind choices in how they pay and activate their crypto holdings."
The Nexo Card
According to a company statement, the Nexo Card will require no minimum repayments, monthly, or inactivity fees.
There are also no FX fees for up to €20,000 ($21,600) per month.
What’s more, every Nexo Card transaction is equipped with an instant crypto cashback feature which can be paid out in either Bitcoin or Nexo’s native NEXO token.
In other words, users will be able to earn up to 2% back in what the company labels as “free cryptocurrency” with each purchase.
The Nexo Card also comes with Apple Pay and Google Pay integrations, and can be accepted by over 90 million merchants where Mastercard is accepted.
Earlier this year, Nexo completed a trial roll out of the Nexo Card in selected European markets, and according to a company statement, found the trial run generated “extraordinary interest” and showed “high demand” for the product.