Stablecoin cards win users on FX savings, not rewards: Wirex CEO

Wirex CEO Pavel Matveev has identified currency conversion savings of up to 2% as a stronger reason for using stablecoin cards than cashback, citing average purchases of about $95 and roughly 12 monthly transactions per active user. Summary Wirex-issued cards handle about a fifth of September’s $1.2 billion stablecoin card spending, Matveev says. Settlement in six fiat currencies can reduce conversion costs on cross-border purchases, according to the executive. Matveev says sustainable adoption requires continued spending after six months and volume spread across users. Issuing permissions, compliance and settlement requirements remain barriers for companies launching their own cards, he says. Pavel Matveev, Wirex’s co-founder and CEO, told crypto.news that spending across more than 30 partner programs points to regular card use, with lower payment costs providing a reason to keep spending after rewards disappear. In his account, about a fifth of the $1.2 billion spent through stablecoin cards in September ran through cards issued by Wirex. He described cashback as a small part of the company’s spending activity and said a substantial share of its volume involved currencies other t...