Payment giant MasterCard International Inc has filed for 15 NFTs and Metaverse-based trademarks, signaling its intention to become a major player in the digital economy. This was revealed by Michael Kondoudis, NFTs and metaverse trademark attorney via Twitter on 8 April.
According to the tweet sent out by Kondoudis, the global payment facilitator has submitted the trademark applications to register Mastercard, its “Circles” logo, and the “Priceless” slogan. And hinted that the company may be planning to work on payment system-based services in Metaverse, e-commerce transactions in Metaverse, and payment services in Metaverse (obviously to other parties).
Apart from that, a range of virtual, crypto, and financial products and services will be covered by patents filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on April 4, 2022. This isn’t the first time.
Last month American Express hinted at its Metaverse entry through similar trademark filings. The company filed trademark applications for its logos and items including the Centurion black card and “Shop Small” program.
Many fintech firms have expanded their footprint into the metaverse following Facebook’s October 2021 announcement it would be rebranding to Meta. The social media giant said at the time it planned to create a virtual environment connecting online social experiences to the physical world.
In Particular credit card firms, such as Visa and Mastercard have slowly seemed to succumb to users’ demand for buying cryptocurrencies using fiat with their cards or otherwise embraced the digital asset space.
How Fintechs like Mastercard and Visa are embracing metaverse?
Two years ago, Mastercard unveiled an augmented reality app that offered cardholders a virtual tour of three reward categories. The American financial giant then launched the Start Path Crypto scheme, a startup engagement program dedicated to exploring and solving problems for single users and businesses around the world using blockchain technology in Dec 2021.
Its major competitor payment titan Visa too announced its plan to launch a one-year creator program that supports small businesses through the use of NFTs. Visa said its main goal was to choose entrepreneurs working in the art, music, film, or fashion industry and expand their business operations by diving into the NFT market.
