American Express, one of the largest payment card services companies in the world, announced the official launch of a new credit card that would offer crypto rewards to users. This is one of the most recent integrations between the traditional financial market and the crypto industry. This new service has been developed thanks to a recent partnership with Abra, a crypto services company.

American Express Launches New Crypto Rewards Credit Card

American Express has entered the cryptocurrency market thanks to a new partnership with Abra that lets the payments card company offer new credit cards with crypto rewards to users. In a  recent press release, Abra explained that the new Abra Crypto Card would rely on the American Express network and transact in U.S. dollars. 

The rewards in crypto would come from every purchase category and amount. At the same time, Abra has announced a new feature that would allow users to buy and sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with managed custody. Therefore, Abra is not only making it easier for users to be able to earn crypto rewards through the American Express payments network, but it is also releasing new NFT solutions for users that want to get access to this market. 

The rewards that users received through the new cash-back feature can be exchanged for 100 different virtual currencies without the need of paying transaction fees. It is worth pointing out that the Abra Crypto Card will also have a wide range of other benefits offered by the American Express Network. Some of these benefits include Amex Offers, presale ticket access, and Global Dining benefits, among others. 

Mohammed Badi, president of Global Network Services at American Express, said:

“One of the ways we back the evolution and innovation of commerce is by making it easier for fintechs to develop and scale innovative payment solutions leveraging the American Express global payments network and the Amex/i2c platform.” 

The Nilson Report shows that American Express is the fourth largest card network in the world after Visa, Mastercard and store credit cards. American Express held a market share of 10.17% in 2020. Therefore, there is a large number of users that would now be able to get access to a large credit card network with rewards that would be accumulated in cryptocurrencies. 

Over the last few years, we have seen how Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital currencies expanded all around the world. Indeed, Bitcoin was able to move from below $20,000 to over $69,000 in 2021. Now, the largest digital asset in the market is being traded at close to $29,350 and it has a market capitalization of $560 billion. 

Thanks to Abra and American Express, it would be possible for a large number of users to get access, for the first time, to digital currencies. This could be the beginning for other large credit card providers to start launching possible crypto-related solutions and rewards. There are several debit card issuers that let users spend digital currencies and receive cash-back rewards as well.