Visa CEO Alfred Kelly called bitcoin digital gold in the sense that it is a speculative asset. In addition, he said that the company he heads works to facilitate the purchase of this cryptocurrency and its use as a means of payment through cards. In a Leadership Next podcast with Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt, Kelly touched on the relationship between the company and cryptocurrencies, which he divided into two categories. “On the one hand, they are a speculative asset; I would include Bitcoin in this group. Like a ‘digital gold’, you could say. In this category, we have two objectives: to allow the purchase of BTC in Visa Credentials and to work with some wallets to be able to transfer the BTC to fiat money and use it in one of the 70 million places where VISA is accepted in the world ”.
Later, he explained the second edge of their differentiation and emphasized the possibility of using cryptocurrencies as a means of payment for various types of transactions: “The other category would be digital currencies. We see in them enormous potential to become a new payment method. We are working with approximately 35 participants from this world to be able to transfer cryptocurrencies to fiat money and thus use it through a Visa card ”. This novelty is already in the testing phase, as reported by CriptoNoticias in February 2021, and could be implemented by the end of the year if it works correctly.
On the other hand, when asked about the reduction of commissions in the transactions that some cryptocurrencies pursue -something that seems to undermine the profitability of companies such as Visa or Mastercard-, Kelly clarified: “What I like about our business is that it does not we choose winners and losers. Right now, I don't know how much cryptocurrencies are going to grow or which of them will be a big business in 5 years ”.
Visa in a different world because of the pandemic
The vision on cryptocurrencies that Alfred Kelly currently owns has not always been such. In 2018, he himself had dismissed the possibility of processing these types of transactions, considering them closer to an asset than to a currency. However, it has shown a resounding change of mind lately, and the company's actions reflect this new criterion. Beyond cryptocurrencies, Kelly, who was affected by COVID-19 last year, gave his opinion about the impact that the pandemic has had on the world economy: “In the first 30 or 40 days, with people totally confined, all items suffered losses. However, after e-commerce grew in categories never seen before, such as shopping in supermarkets and pharmacies ”. In this context, the services that Visa offers become increasingly important. According to the businessman himself, "cash and checks will remain with us for a while, but their use will decrease at an accelerated rate due to the pandemic." Specifically, he explained that, at present, “15 cents of every dollar spent in operations in person comes from a Visa card; meanwhile, in e-commerce, the figure rises to 43 cents per dollar ”. Finally, Kelly highlighted the commitment that he transmits to his more than 21,000 employees "to get out of the pandemic as soon as possible", while highlighting the promise of the company to help small merchants through this crisis. "They were the losers of the pandemic, and we promised to help them digitize in the next 3 years," he said.
