Young Platform launches the ‘pay-to-card’, fiat currency withdrawal service on credit and debit cards

The partnership between Young Platform, Checkout.com and Visa to bring card withdrawal service from a cryptocurrency exchange to Italy kicks off

Turin, 02/03/2023 – Italy’s leading regulated cryptocurrency exchange Young Platform, in partnership with Checkout.com and Visa, launches a pay-to-card service that will allow its customers to make instant withdrawals from the exchange platform to their credit or debit card. Young Platform thus becomes one of the only two exchanges in Europe able to provide this feature to holders of cryptocurrencies on its platform. This is a major milestone among the services offered by the crypto company, resulting from its partnership with leading players on the global fintech scene.

Checkout.com is the only payment service provider to have created an entirely new infrastructure covering the full payment value chain. Visa Direct‘s recent expansion into Italy will enable consumers to make instant financial transfers to payment cards worldwide.

The joint initiative between Young Platform, Checkout.com and Visa will therefore enable Young Platform customers to use Visa Direct integration for real-time transfers to Visa credit, debit or prepaid cards. This will ensure a secure, simple and accessible customer experience, at a time of significant growth for the real-time payments industry globally. 

According to an international survey conducted by Visa (‘The Crypto Phenomenon: 2022 Consumer Attitudes & Usage’), public awareness of cryptocurrencies remained almost universal between 2021 and 2022, and crypto ownership even increased by 2 percentage points among respondents (to 34%). Motivations driving adoption include- among the others – the desire to participate in a financial and cultural movement And the increased awareness on how to buy and store crypto.  

According to a Visa Study on digital payments trends (https://www.visaitalia.com/visa/sala-stampa-visa/press-releases.3193090.html), the knowledge of cryptocurrencies is widespread (57% of Italians interviewed know cryptocurrencies), with 10% of Italians questioned currently owning them; 13% of the Italians involved in the research are interested in cryptocurrencies, but this rises to 2 out of 10 of those questioned among the very young Gen. Z.

As part of this backdrop, Young Platform aims to develop an entire ecosystem of applications around its exchange, with a single goal since its launch in 2018 – to make cryptocurrencies accessible to all the people who want to use them. Partly as a result of this approach, the young fintech has established itself as one of Italy’s most promising startups, garnering a large community of more than 1 million users and a €16 million first funding round led by Azimut in June 2022. Just six months later, Young Platform was granted certification by the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) in France (Europe’s third-largest crypto market according to Chainalysis). AMF granted Young Platform the Issuer Identification Number (Psan) reserved for financial services providers operating across the Alps.

“Young Platform’s work with digital currencies is based on its mission to create services increasingly tailored to everyday use that give people peace of mind and full freedom in managing their money,” recalls Andrea Ferrero, CEO of Young Platform. For Young Platform and its 2 million customers, pay-to-card represents another step towards opening up this exciting new world to a wider audience, securely and reliably. We are convinced that blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies represent a great opportunity to create a fairer and more sustainable future. We will continue to work with passion and dedication to realise this vision with the help of prominent partners such as Checkout.com and Visa”.