Mastercard has teamed up with MoonPay, a cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) payments app, to explore how the blockchain-based Web3 world can connect with and build loyalty among consumers, the companies said at the Money20/20 event in Las Vegas.

Card networks like Visa and Mastercard have been busy around Web3, working on areas as diverse as stablecoin-based payments and removing gas fees from Ethereum transactions. Most recently, Mastercard was revealed to be working with non-custodial wallet firms MetaMask and Ledger, according to a Web3 workshop presentation.

The partnership allows MoonPay to avail itself of Mastercard’s Crypto Credential system, a way of ensuring transactions are trusted and compliant with regulations, as well as integrating payments tech like Mastercard Send and Click to Pay, according to a blog post.

In addition, Otherlife, a subsidiary of MoonPay that provides Web3 creative agency services, development, strategy and experiential services, will play a key role in the partnership, it said.

"We're excited to collaborate with Mastercard, a prominent supporter of Web3 and the digital economy, to redefine customer loyalty and engagement," MoonPay's co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright said in the blog post.

Mastercard first began working with MoonPay in 2022 as part of an initiative to allow cardholders to buy NFTs.