Credit Card Giant Visa Hints at Digital Asset Service Plans

One of the world's largest credit card issuers may be looking to blockchain as a way to facilitate the transfer of cryptographic assets, public records show.

A patent application published last week reveals that four employees of Visa's global product and business-to-business platform divisions have submitted a filing entitled "Methods and System for Using Digital Signatures to Create Trusted Digital Asset Services."

The application itself doesn't delve into many specifics, however. The proposed invention is described as being applicable to both public and private blockchains, and hints broadly at the system being used to send digitized assets back and forth.

As the application explains:

"Digital assets associated with a value transfer can, in some embodiments, be digitally signed by a sending entity and/or an administrative entity. The sender's signature can indicate that the digital asset was legitimately sent by the indicated sender, and the administrator's signature can indicate that the digital asset was approved and/or recorded by the administrator. In some embodiments, a digital signature can indicate that the digital asset has been transferred, and that the value cannot be taken back."

Whether Visa is planning to launch a digital asset service based on the technology in the application remains to be seen.

The payments card giant has already moved to build blockchain-based services on the payments front, and is currently working with technology startup Chain to build a business-to-business platform set to launch this year.

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Chain.

Visa card image via WDnet Creation/Shutterstock