Singapore digital assets exchange Zipmex to launch Visa-backed payment card

Zipmex, a Singapore-based digital assets exchange, has announced a partnership with Visa to launch a payment card with the California-headquartered firm’s branding. The tie-up will also allow Zipmex to further expand its services across the markets it operates in, namely Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Australia.

Zipmex said users of its payment program, ZipSpend, would soon have access to the 70 million merchants in Visa’s global network. Under the partnership, the two companies will also work with Visa’s fintech and marketplace partners interested in leveraging digital assets for worldwide payments.

Zipmex CEO Marcus Lim / Photo credit: Zipmex

According to Zipmex, it will launch the Visa-branded payment card later this year.

The upcoming product will enable cardholders to convert their digital assets to fiat currency to make purchases anywhere Visa is accepted. The card will be available to customers who clear the know-your-customer process, subject to local compliance and regulation. More details about the payment card will be revealed later this year, the startup shared.

Zipmex said that over 200,000 users have transacted digital assets worth more than US$1 billion in gross transaction volume on its platform since its launch in late 2019. In January, the company raised US$6 million in a funding round led by Jump Capital.

The Singapore-based firm also highlighted the popularity of Visa-supported crypto cards. Visa said last month that consumers spent cryptocurrency worth over US$1 billion on goods and services globally via its crypto cards in the first six months of this year.

Zipmex CEO Marcus Lim said in a statement that the partnership with Visa integrates digital assets and blockchain infrastructure into a mainstream payment platform, which will likely “offer compelling opportunities to expand their use in payments and fintech applications.”