Impatient to compete with crypto exchanges, US financial institutions are set to offer crypto to millions of clients.
Digital asset management firm New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) and enterprise payments corporation National Cash Register (NCR) joined efforts in facilitating massive crypto exposure, enabling 650 US community banks and credit unions to offer Bitcoin (BTC) purchases, according to Forbes magazine.
Thanks to their collaboration, financial institutions that are getting fed up by observing crypto-purchases made from their accounts to outside exchanges are offered a point of entry into the market in which they are eager to compete in.
24 million total customers
Mobile applications specially built by the payments provider NCR will introduce cryptocurrency trading to an estimated 24 million clients, offering them a fast lane to buy and spend Bitcoin within their existing accounts.
The financial institutions that will offer the courtesy will rely on NYDIG’s custody services and by doing so bypass the demanding regulatory framework related to actually holding cryptos for their clients.
The 135-year-old Atlanta-based payments giant is a “firm believer” in the benefits and the strategic application of crypto, according to the NCR president of digital banking, Douglas Brown.
“And that’s true for our banking relationships, as evidenced by NYDIG, and across retailers as well as restaurants and the like,” Brown told Forbes.
Rapid exposure
Since March 2020, NCR’s stock has jumped 238%, with the onset of the pandemic and quarantine rules, which forced numerous banks to shut down their physical branches, while boosting the expansion of financial technology service providers.
The company does business in 160 countries, with services ranging from digital banking to ATMs and restaurant point-of-sale kiosks.
Recently, the enterprise payments behemoth partnered up with crypto payment company Flexa, enabling clients in 600 shops to start using Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), and other cryptos for buying gas and other goods.
According to research firm RBR, NCR is the largest provider of assisted self-service terminals globally, excluding China, with a 53% share.
NCR serves 180,000 restaurants, retail chains, and more, all of which could opt for crypto payments if everything evolves according to plan, making its lending hand momentous as far as crypto adoption goes.