NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

In an interview with Karen Webster, Cuy Sheffield, head of Crypto at Visa, and Shivani Siroya, founder and CEO of Tala, said a new partnership between the two firms is aimed at putting stablecoins into digital wallets, onto credit cards — and bringing that digital commerce direct to merchants.

The two companies said Wednesday (May 5) that they are teaming up to help the unbanked gain access to, store, and most importantly, use cryptocurrencies as part of everyday spend.

Tala exists primarily as a lending platform and personal finance app for the underbanked in emerging markets. Siroya said to date, the company has delivered more than $2 billion in credit to more than 6 million customers in countries as far-flung as the Philippines, Kenya and Mexico, and the company recently established presence in India.

Photo courtesy of TheDigitalArtist.