According to CoinDesk, crypto hardware wallet provider SafePal has announced a strategic investment in Swiss bank Fiat24, launching an in-app banking gateway and virtual crypto Visa card. The new offering aims to bridge the gap between crypto and real-world utilities. Users can pay for expenses with digital assets and transfer funds to other compliant banks through the banking gateway.
The companies have introduced a crypto-focused Visa card and in-app banking services, with the dollar-pegged stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) as the default deposit currency. Users can swap their coin holdings into USDC via Arbitrum, which can then be stored in USD, EUR, and CHF for transactions and expenses. After completing the KYC and onboarding process by Fiat24, users can set up individually owned, fully compliant bank accounts in the SafePal mobile wallet app without any account creation or management fees.
Veronica Wong, CEO and co-founder of SafePal, stated that this will be the first truly crypto-friendly banking experience for retail users, eliminating the excessive scrutiny and restriction of traditional banks. The bank accounts created via the mobile wallet will support transfers to accounts in other banks under the user's name in a seamless and compliant manner. The credentials for the bank accounts are minted as NFTs on Arbitrum, an Ethereum-based network, ensuring secure and transparent on-chain transactions. The crypto Visa cards are also linked to third-party payment platforms like Paypal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay. The Visa card will initially be available in selected regions in Europe before being rolled out across the continent, while the in-app banking gateway will be available outside of the United States and for all non-U.S. sanctioned countries.