Global payment network Visa has announced it will launch a consulting and advisory service to help financial institutions and retailers navigate the cryptocurrency space. 

The payment platform disclosed this on Wednesday. The consultancy launched as an offering under ‘Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA)’, with American bank UMB as the first client. 

“We’ve seen a material shift in our clients’ mindset in the last year, from a desire to explore and experiment with crypto to actually building a strategy and product roadmap,” Carl Rutstein, Global Head, Visa Consulting & Analytics, told BusinessWire. 

Since the start of the year, Visa has made strategic efforts to expand into cryptocurrency as a go-to platform for crypto to fiat conversion, having partnered with exchange platforms like Coinbase and FTX for card programmes.

The consultancy came after a global study revealed that nearly 40 per cent of crypto owners surveyed would be likely or very likely to switch their primary bank to one that offers crypto-related products in the next 12 months. 

Visa stated that it set out to assist financial institutions, retailers, and central banks in rolling out cryptocurrency offerings, including NFT projects and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).