USAA teams with Coinbase for Bitcoin
USAA HQ, Texas
The United Services Automobile Association (USAA), a financial services group, has partnered with Coinbase to give Bitcoin usage a timely boost.
Late last year, USAA launched a Coinbase pilot program, which allowed select USAA employees and members to view their Coinbase accounts on the USAA website and mobile app.
Following the successful pilot, all account holders are now able to view their Coinbase accounts alongside the rest of their USAA accounts and financial services on the website. The mobile app should be ready in late March.
Jon Cholak, the lead investment associate for USAA’s corporate development team, says: “What we’re developing is at the forefront of the financial services industries.”
More than 11,000 USAA members have accounts with the online payment wallet Coinbase, where Bitcoins can be bought, sold, received and stored.
According to USAA, each Bitcoin currently is worth more than $400 after reaching a high of $1,242 in 2013.
Bothered by Bitcoin
Some of the comments from USAA’s website show that Bitcoin still has some way to go in convincing all the public about its capabilities.
There was a 50/50 split in terms of positive and negative feedback.
On person says: “I don’t see how integrating with a money laundering platform is a worthy effort for your products.”
While another adds: “This seems like a huge waste of time. Bitcoin offers absolutely nothing, and it seems like its primary utility is facilitating illegal activity. I’ve used USAA for a very long time, and this sort of news is making me reconsider.”
One individual was happy and used capital letters to emphasise their joy: “Congrats USAA! FIRST retail bank to integrate with Bitcoin!! Very awesome and THANK YOU!”
