The credit card provider Mastercard is always good for a surprise.

After announcing the end of Maestro last week, the next bang comes this week: The American group now wants to enable its customers to make payments in Bitcoin.

Of course, that has a force: Mastercard has 35 million contractors and 2.8 billion cards issued, making it one of the largest payment service providers in the world.

What's behind it?

Franz Nestler

Editor in business.

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Put simply, Mastercard wants to offer all customers, merchants and banks connected to the network payments with Bitcoin and other crypto services. That said Sherri Haymond, responsible for digital partnerships at Mastercard, the American television broadcaster CNBC. He also learned more details: Mastercard is said to want to offer the sending and receiving of Bitcoin in the future. But there should also be Bitcoin wallets on which the digital currencies are stored, or lending programs. It is conceivable, for example, that loyalty points received through flights and hotel bookings can be converted into Bitcoin. It is not yet known whether other cryptocurrencies are supported.

To this end, Mastercard has teamed up with Bakkt, a wallet provider that is supposed to be responsible for the corresponding infrastructure.

The price of the company's share skyrocketed: from $ 9 it went up to more than $ 30 - a tripling of the price.

Bakkt also works with Google Pay.

Prevent outflow in the crypto sector

But what is Mastercard's goal? Haymond said this quite openly: The aim is to at least slow down the steady outflow from the traditional financial sector into the crypto sector. The suggestions have been in the drawer at least since the beginning of the year. At the time, a press release said: “Our philosophy when it comes to cryptocurrencies is very simple: It's about choices. Mastercard is not here to recommend that you use cryptocurrencies. But we're here to give customers, retailers and companies the ability to move digital assets - traditional or cryptocurrencies - as they want. It should be your decision, it's your money. "

It seems only logical to say goodbye to Maestro: Fewer and fewer people around the world are using the service.

It cannot be used on the Internet either.

In addition, it is expensive for Mastercard.

In the highly competitive market for payment cards - be it debit cards or credit cards - the margin is small anyway.

That is why the group is now trying, on the one hand, to reach new business areas - for example through crypto currencies - and, on the other hand, to increase margins and promote its own products, such as through the Maestro-Aus.