BitX, Zazoo deal enables people to spend Bitcoin via virtual cards

Bitcoin exchange startup BitX has signed an exclusive deal with Zazoo, enabling people to spend cryptocurrency online using virtual card system VCpay.

Part of JSE-listed Net1, Zazoo is responsible for a range of product offerings including mobile banking, third-party payments, cryptography and smart card technologies.

One of Zazoo’s products is VCpay, which enables customers to create a new virtual prepaid MasterCard number for every purchase they make. This is said to help secure their identities and accounts from fraud.

In a press release, CEO of BitX Marcus Swanepoel said: “The gap between the speculative trade in digital currency and users’ ability to trade the currency for any item that they choose is closing, with VCpay as a critical enabler in this transition.”

BitX was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Singapore with offices in Cape Town and Jakarta.

The company’s aim is to spread the adoption of digital currencies around the globe. Some of its features include the mobile Bitcoin wallet for iOS and Android, the BitX API, as well a Bitcoin exchange.

Read more: BitX launches stylish bitcoin app to drive adoption in emerging markets

“We are very excited to be working with BitX as cryptocurrencies are starting to gain prominence worldwide, and are positioned to be one of the next big things in the fintech space,” added MD of Zazoo Philip Belamant.

Zazoo’s MD explains that this collaboration eliminates some of the challenges currently experienced by digital currencies. Belamant says that Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies’ main problem is their interoperability with the existing financial system.

He elaborates:

This collaboration will enable BitX and VCpay users to now spend Bitcoins agnostically, anywhere online and anywhere in the world, without any changes to the existing acquiring or switching infrastructures. We believe that BitX is an ideal partner for our technology as it is a rising star in the crypto-currency field, and supported by astute investors such as Naspers.

Read more: Bitcoin startup BitX raises $4m from Naspers

Inter-connecting VCpay and BitX means that anyone with Bitcoin can use mobile virtual cards from their device. Belamant explains that this can be done offline and without the need to access a mobile phone network. These virtual cards can be used to pay for goods and services online or at any merchant that accepts debit or credit card payments.

As noted in the press release, this integration means that an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) gamer will be able to sell materials within the game in exchange for Bitcoins and then be able to generate a VCpay virtual card to pay for his Uber ride.