Visa has partnered with Santa Monica-based FinTech startup Tala to offer easier access to cryptocurrencies for people in emerging markets.
Tala – founded in 2011 – has launched a lending app that instantly underwrites and delivers credit to customers who have little or no formal borrowing history. So far, the company has provided over $2bn in credit to over 6 million customers across Mexico, India, Kenya and the Philippines. Tala clients can access microloans from $10 go $500 through a smartphone app.
According to Forbes, the goal of the partnership is to provide easier access to cryptocurrencies for underbanked customers, starting with USD coin. USD coin is backed by the US dollar and is also supported on Stellar, Solana, Ethereum and Algorand blockchains. The partnership will also include peer-to-peer payments technology company Circle.
Through Tala’s integration with Stellar and Circle, its customers will be able to gain access to USD coin in Tala’s digital wallet. This will support asset storage, crypto-fiat exchange functionalities and cross-border transfer. For Visa, it will offer Tala the chance to issue Visa cards linked to the wallet.
Tala CEO Shivani Siroya claims the primary use case the company is hoping to drive with the crypto offering is lowering the cost of remittances for its customers.
In 2019, Tala raised a $110m Series D funding round. The company claimed the round was to help three billion underbanked adults get a loan.
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