Mastercard is looking to enter into the metaverse, its recent filings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have hinted. The payments giant is exploring ways to process payment cards in the virtual universe, while also considering to open a digital marketplace for downloadable goods that could be bought, sold, as well as traded. The development comes after Mastercard expanded its consulting teams to work around Web 3 adoption after discussions with merchants and members of other banks.
Founded in 1966, Mastercard is gearing up to now host virtual events, with attendees present as avatars in the metaverse.
As part of its patent applications, the company has asked for approvals to organise educational seminars, cultural events, concerts, sports events, festival celebrations, and even award shows in the virtual universe.
Mastercard’s iconic logo showing two circles, one red and the other yellow, overlapping each to form orange in the centre, has also been listed to be given a metaverse makeover along with the company’s slogan — “There are some things money can’t buy; for everything else, there’s Mastercard”.
As for now, Mastercard has not officially revealed its plans of making a debut into the world of the metaverse. It could take as long as six months for Mastercard to get updates on its patent filings because that is the average time it usually takes for the USPTO to review an application.
Meanwhile, other big names from the finance sector have also taken similar steps before entering into the metaverse.
Last month, American Express filed for seven trademarks around its plans to step into virtual reality.
Visa, and JP Morgan are other notable banks that have begun embracing elements of the Web 3 sector.
In March, British bank HSBC also decided to purchase a chunk of digital land in The Sandbox metaverse in order to engage with sports, esports, and gaming enthusiasts.
Research reports expect the market opportunity for the metaverse to reach $800 billion (roughly Rs. 59,58,719 crore) by 2024.