Following fundraise, Wirex opens waitlist for its new multicurrency card

Payments group Wirex has launched a waitlist for its upcoming multicurrency card, which will let its 3.1m customers hold multiple fiat and cryptocurrencies across 19 different types of account.

The card is also the debut of Wirex’s switch from Visa to Mastercard, making the fintech Mastercard’s first crypto card.

It’s also among a series of changes at Wirex, which switched from Wirecard to Railsbank for its Asia-Pacific customers earlier this year, signed a partnership with payments provider LHV, and overhauled its ‘cryptoback’ rewards with up to two per cent on all spending.

Wirex earlier this month closed a £3.7m crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube 15 days ahead of schedule after beating its initial target by 370 per cent.

The campaign garnered support from nearly 7,000 investors and was said to be Crowdcube’s best performing crowdfunding effort by a crypto-based company ever.

“Since becoming the first-crypto native platform to achieve principal membership with Mastercard, and hinting at the launch of a revolutionary new Wirex Mastercard card in the EEA region, there has been an overwhelming response from users wanting to be the first to get their hands on the product,” said CEO and co-founder Pavel Matveev.

“It’s always been our aim to bridge the gap between the traditional and digital economy, and the benefits that the new product brings will realise this even further.”

Distribution of Wirex Mastercard is expected to start in November, with crowdfunding investors among the first to receive the card, followed by those on the waitlist.

During Wirex’s crowdfund, Matveev said the fintech was aiming to expand into the US and Japan, a  move which he hopes will help the startup reach its goal of 10m customers by the end of 2021.