Huobi Global to Offer Crypto Debit Cards to European Customers

Summary:
• Amidst a drop in investor confidence, Huobi plans to offer Visa-supported cards to customers in the European Economic Area.

Huobi Global, a leading global crypto exchange, has teamed with Solaris, to introduce a cryptocurrency debit card to users in Europe. In particular, the card can be used for purchases in all 27 European Union (E.U.) countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Visa’s endorsement of the program paves the way for Huobi users to spend their digital assets anywhere in the world at partner merchants’ checkout counters. The card will become available to customers in the second quarter of 2023.

The relationship will see Solaris provide full end-to-end processing and issuance capabilities for the program, with sponsorship from Visa BIN. When using the Huobi Token (HT) as a form of payment, Huobi VISA cardholders will earn cashback rewards proportional to their card level. Huobi’s services are driven primarily by issuance and authorization technologies that are supplementary to Solaris’ cards, and they feature a number of loyalty-related perks.

Powered by Solaris’s Buffer card issuing and secondary authorisation technology, the Huobi-branded Visa debit cards will provide cardholders with a variety of loyalty advantages. By linking to a wallet of value housed in a secondary account, Buffer makes it possible for cardholders to make payments using their primary fiat account while enjoying a seamless payment experience.

Solaris is a Berlin-based technology company. Among Europe’s top finance platforms, it helps businesses promote their financial products and services to consumers in new and efficient ways.

Huobi’s dented investor confidence

After a rocky few weeks, Huobi is doing what it can to gain back the trust of its investor base. Panic withdrawals have occurred over the previous several days as word of the exchange’s plans to lay off hundreds of workers, equivalent to around 20% of its employees, spreads amid growing worry over its financial situation. Since the middle of December, Huobi has seen $87.9 million come in, but $204.65 million leave, as reported by DeFi analytical firm DefiLlama. The Visa partnership will perhaps calm the nerves of some investors.