Blockchain-native digital wallet taps top banking and fintech players connecting payments technology with its blockchain infrastructure, powered by Securrency
NEW YORK, Oct. 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF), an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor and asset manager, announced today its collaboration with Stride Bank and Galileo Financial Technologies as key banking and payments partners for its blockchain-native digital wallet, WisdomTree Prime™.
WisdomTree Prime, as made available by WisdomTree Digital Movement, Inc. (“WisdomTree Digital”), will provide users with access to retail payments capabilities including demand deposit accounts (DDAs), money movement capabilities and Visa-branded debit cards. To promote secure fund movement through the WisdomTree Prime payment ecosystem, Stride Bank has been tapped as a strategic partner. As a top 15 Visa global issuer and issuing bank behind a number of major players in the fintech space, Stride is one of the most highly regarded fintech partner banks in the industry.
The partnership with Stride Bank will allow users to attach a traditional bank account with traditional payment services, including a Visa debit card, to digital activities (including digital asset activities) supported by a separate, unaffiliated custodian bank. Users will be able to store fiat funds for the purchase of, or resulting from the sale of, digital assets, just as bank customers use bank accounts to store funds for other types of products and services. All digital asset buy, sell and hold activities will occur via a separate digital wallet available via WisdomTree Prime.
The WisdomTree Prime Visa debit card will initially be available as a virtual card that can be used with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, with a physical debit card to be released shortly after.
“Now more than ever, consumers are looking to simplify their financial lives by seeking out products that connect with one another,” said Jimmy Stallings, President of Payments, Stride Bank. “We are thrilled to welcome WisdomTree Digital as a Stride Bank Program Manager, where our banking products can support new financial innovations through WisdomTree Prime in the digital asset space with integrity, as is our primary focus with all of our fintech partnerships.”
In addition to Stride Bank, WisdomTree Digital is also partnering with another highly regarded payments player, Galileo Financial Technologies. Owned by SoFi, Galileo is a leading payment processor that powers world-leading fintechs and financial services and investment firms. WisdomTree Digital has connected these providers with its blockchain infrastructure, which is powered by Securrency and leverages Fireblocks MPC wallet technology.
“With the upcoming launch of WisdomTree Prime, we are committed to being an industry leader in blockchain enabled finance, where spending, saving and investing are united. The app was built from the ground up on blockchain rails to have a flexible infrastructure where we can now collaborate with the best names in the payments space to create a simplified and user-friendly digital experience,” said Jarrett Lilien, President and COO of WisdomTree. “We could not be prouder to be partnering with such esteemed partners who will help us give consumers total control and choice over their financial lives.”
Lilien guides WisdomTree with years of experience leading the charge in digital disruption, previously serving as President and Chief Operating Officer of E*TRADE Financial Corporation. This announcement also comes on the heels of the firm recently announcing the appointment of Daniela Mielke to its Board of Directors, who previously led PayPal’s growth strategy during a time of major digital disruption in the payments industry and played a key role in Visa International’s IPO, the largest IPO in U.S. history at the time. WisdomTree currently offers a variety of crypto and crypto basket ETPs, crypto portfolio management and award-winning Digital Portfolio Developer (DPD) tools, and recently received SEC approval for its first blockchain-enabled fund, the WisdomTree Short-Term Treasury Digital Fund (WTSY).
The firm’s digital asset strategy is a natural extension and evolution of the core ETF business, rooted in the belief that blockchain enabled finance will improve the investor experience over time with liquidity, transparency and standardization.
For more information on the upcoming launch of WisdomTree Prime™, please visit: https://www.wisdomtreeprime.com/.
About WisdomTree
WisdomTree Investments, Inc., through its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Europe (collectively, “WisdomTree”), is an ETF and ETP sponsor and asset manager headquartered in New York. WisdomTree offers products covering equity, commodity, fixed income, leveraged and inverse, currency, cryptocurrency and alternative strategies. WisdomTree currently has approximately $72.8 billion in assets under management globally.
WisdomTree® is the marketing name for WisdomTree Investments, Inc. and its subsidiaries worldwide.
WisdomTree Digital Movement, Inc., NMLS ID: 2372500.
About Stride Bank
Originally chartered in 1913 as the Central National Bank of Enid, Stride Bank N.A., based in Enid, Oklahoma, has developed innovative and highly specialized payment solutions for some of the nation’s largest corporations, including real-time payment solutions, consumer and commercial lending services, third-party issuer services for debit, prepaid, and credit card programs, and network sponsorship to Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. Stride also offers broad spectrum mobile banking, wealth management, and treasury services to numerous industries. Stride Bank has branches throughout Oklahoma in Enid, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Bartlesville, Blackwell, Woodward, and Mooreland, as well as Salt Lake City, Utah. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Learn more at www.stridebank.com.
About Galileo Financial Technologies
Galileo is a leading financial technology company whose platform, open API technology and proven expertise enable fintechs, emerging and established brands to create differentiated financial solutions that expand the financial frontier. Galileo removes the complexity from payments and financial services innovation by providing flexible, open API building blocks and a secure, scalable, future-proof platform. Trusted by digital banking heavyweights, early-stage innovators and enterprise clients alike, Galileo supports issuing physical and virtual payment cards, mobile push provisioning and more, across industries and geographies. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Galileo has offices in Mexico City, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle.
