American Express, one of the powerhouse payments processors, recently filed trademark applications for NFT and Metaverse logos signalling a potential entrance into the Web3 space.
American Express: The U.S. and beyond
Few brands are more recognizable than American Express; it is a well-respected and sometimes misunderstood payments processor. Contrary to what its name might imply, American Express has grown beyond just the USA to be the world’s second-largest payments processor.
American Express is a member of the Big 3 payments processing companies, including Visa and MasterCard. American Express or AMEX is known for a few things, excellent rewards, exclusivity, and many vendors not accepting payments through the service.
Due to its exclusivity and fantastic rewards, AMEX commands transaction fees considerably more expensive than what other processors charge. With an average of 4.5% per transaction, many businesses are not willing to deal with the hassle of accepting payments through American Express.
On the flip side, the fact that it is the second-largest payments processor globally means that more vendors accept AMEX payments when compared to those who do not. As a seller, if you do not want to miss out on sales to a large chunk of the market, it might be in your best interests to accept payments through this processor.
As American express prepares to make its NFT debut, it’ll be the last of the Big 3 payments processors to enter the space. It’ll be joining the likes of financial powerhouses like JP Morgan, MasterCard, PayPal, and Visa in the Web3 arena.
American Express in the NFT and Web3 Space
On 9 March 2022, filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices hinted at strategies American Express may implement to help develop its Metaverse Empire. American Express requested to secure a trademark on software for an NFT marketplace, concierge services, travel, credit cards, and virtual environments in the filings.
The filing gets more interesting as American Express also expressed plans to offer virtual currency exchange, digitized utility token trading services, and wallet services for blockchain and digital assets.
American Express filed seven trademark applications for brand assets, including its logos, Amex, Centurion, Shop Small, and Membership Awards. According to a tweet by Mike Koundoudis, a USPTO licensed trademark attorney, the recent filings by American Express indicate plans to offer NFT backed multimedia, cryptocurrency services, and virtual banking + exchange services.
Fintech in the Age of Web3
2022 has been a positive year for crypto and related technologies in the U.S. – so far. The USA now has practical and easy-to-follow guidelines for Crypto dealings within the country. That’ll go a long way in opening up new markets and opportunities for Fintech and other companies.
Major established Fintech players have already debuted in the NFT space, with American Express as the latest intending entrant into the NFT space. As time goes on, we can expect more new and established Fintech brands to fully adopt NFTs, the Metaverse, and the entire Web3 ecosystem.
