2.9 BILLION MASTERCARD CARDS WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE DIRECT NFT PURCHASES.

Card payments for NFTs were initially launched in January in conjunction with Coinbase’s most recent NFT marketplace.

Mastercard, the world’s largest payment processor, is extending its payment network to include nonfungible token (NFT) markets and Web3.

Over the last year, the financial services company has been focusing on extending its payment networks to include NFTs. The company has worked with a number of top NFT marketplaces to enable 2.9 billion cardholders to make direct NFT transactions without first purchasing crypto.

Users must currently purchase crypto in order to bid on and purchase NFTs. With the recent Mastercard alliance, however, billions of cards will be able to skip the process of purchasing and transferring cryptocurrency to NFT markets. According to the business,

“These connections are intended to make crypto more accessible and to assist the NFT ecosystem in continuing to expand, innovate, and attract new enthusiasts.”

Immutable X, Candy Digital, The Sandbox, Mintable, Spring, Nifty Gateway, and Web3 infrastructure provider MoonPay are among the NFT markets with whom Mastercard has worked.

The NFT card purchase service was initially introduced in January of this year in collaboration with Coinbase, enabling consumers to buy NFTs using credit cards directly.

The company’s decision to extend its payment network to the fast increasing NFT ecosystem was also based on a recent poll of 35,000 respondents from 40 countries, which revealed that 45 percent of customers have purchased or are considering purchasing an NFT. Consumers questioned expressed a desire for more flexible purchasing alternatives, with 50% expressing an interest.

Customers can expect world-class security from the company’s newest payment option, comparable to “when completing purchases in a shop or online using a Mastercard card,” according to the company.

Over the last several years, the payment processing behemoth has exhibited a great interest in the crypto and NFT industries. Mastercard applied for 15 metaverse and NFT-related trademarks in April of this year.

Visa and Mastercard, the two largest conventional payment processing businesses, have come a long way since barring crypto transactions on their networks, and are now striving to become the premier financial services providers in the decentralized realm. In March, Visa launched an immersion program to help innovators use NFTs to grow their businesses.