Mastercard, the leading fintech company, made an announcement on May 15th, revealing that five new startups have joined its Start Path Blockchain and Digital Assets program. This program serves as a fintech accelerator program, with a specific focus on exploring potential use cases and scaling new solutions with startups worldwide.
The new additions to the program include Kulipa, a crypto payment and card issuer, Parfin, a blockchain software firm, peaq, a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePin) firm, Triangle, a data platform, and Venly, a blockchain developer.
Mastercard emphasized that this phase of the program will concentrate on conducting use cases and trials to address specific challenges. The company stated in a press release that it only considers “high-potential blockchain, digital assets, and Web3 startups” for this program. The selected firms will have the opportunity to collaborate, receive customized training, and gain access to Mastercard’s customers and channels during the four-month program.
Start Path, which was launched in 2014, has reportedly supported over 400 startups in 54 countries. Through initiatives like this, Mastercard has consistently established itself as a prominent player in the fintech and blockchain payments industry.
In recent news, Mastercard Lab partnered with Israeli fintech firm Kima to develop a “DeFi credit card.” Although not explicitly stated, the concept appears to revolve around combining decentralized finance protocols with the ability to apply for a line of credit.
Furthermore, Mastercard announced on May 8th that it formed an alliance with major U.S. banking giants, including Citigroup, Visa, and JP Morgan, to test distributed ledger technology for banking settlements using tokenization.
In April, Mastercard and 1inch unveiled a debit card with cryptocurrency-to-fiat bridge functionality. This enables cryptocurrency users to withdraw cash and make point-of-sale payments at locations that accept debit cards.
Related: Vanguard appoints a Bitcoin-friendly former BlackRock executive as its new CEO.