The lines between DeFi and TradFi just got blurrier—in the best way. Pera Wallet has partnered with Immersve to launch a non-custodial Mastercard debit card that lets you spend USDC held in a dedicated, on-chain address tied to your card. While payments ultimately settle via traditional fiat rails like Mastercard, the integration itself is powered by Algorand smart contracts, ensuring full transparency and user control before any transaction goes through.
This is more than a product launch. It’s a showcase of what’s possible when instant finality eliminates settlement risk for integrators like Immersve, making it viable to offer non-custodial, single-layer card payments without operational complexity.
Combine that with low fees and smart contract flexibility, and you’ve got a powerful new model for seamless, real-world Web3 payments.
Why it matters
Many “crypto cards” rely on off-chain systems to manage balances or authorize payments, often adding friction, latency, or trust assumptions. This one’s different. With Immersve and Pera, authorization and balance tracking happen fully on-chain, with instant finality and no delegated custody.
The Pera Card is fully non-custodial, which means:
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- Your USDC is deposited into a dedicated, on-chain address linked to your card (not held by a centralized custodian).
- You can withdraw funds at any time, either instantly with Immersve’s assistance or permissionlessly after a 7-day delay.
- Every balance and payment is tracked transparently on-chain, with real-time settlement thanks to Algorand’s instant finality.
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This is what crypto spending should look like.
How it works (the short version)
- You connect your Pera Wallet to Immersve
- A dedicated on-chain address is created for your card
- You deposit USDC into that wallet
- You add your new Pera Card to Apple Pay or Google Wallet
- When you use your card (NFC and online payments are available), Mastercard initiates an authorization request
- Immersve verifies the transaction by reading the Algorand ledger in real time, ensuring the necessary funds are available with 100% certainty—thanks to instant finality
- If sufficient funds are present, the transaction proceeds and USDC is moved from your dedicated address to Immersve, converted into fiat via Circle, and settled with Mastercard to pay the merchant
No custodians. No batching. Just fast, transparent payments that you fully control.
Technical highlights
Smart contract-controlled architecture
Each card is connected to a dedicated on-chain address that’s managed by a central smart contract. Think of the contract as the “queen bee”, coordinating a network of “worker bee” addresses—each one responsible for handling payments tied to a specific card
This design enables:
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- Granular control over how and when funds can be used
- Secure automation of spending rules and transaction logic
- Scalable architecture, supporting multiple cards and users without manual oversight
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Instant finality on Algorand
Most EVM-based implementations can't rely solely on on-chain tracking because they can’t guarantee timely confirmation. Not Algorand. Its instant finality guarantees allow time-sensitive authorizations and real-time payments—entirely on-chain.
Ultra-low fees
Unlike most chains that require off-chain systems or Layer 2 rollups to manage real-time payments, Algorand handles everything on a single layer, making the integration both simpler and lower risk. And as a bonus, on-chain transactions cost just 0.001 ALGO, keeping operations efficient even at scale.
Transparent by design
You don’t need to trust Immersve to hold your funds or execute payments honestly, the smart contracts handle that. You can independently verify what’s in your card wallet and how it’s used, without relying on off-chain systems or intermediaries.
This model opens the door to stablecoin-backed payments that are not only programmable and secure, but also adaptable to any token or jurisdiction over time.
What’s next
The Pera Card initially launched in Immersve’s licensed regions, including:
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇩🇪 Germany
🇮🇹 Italy
🇪🇸 Spain
🇳🇿 New Zealand
If you’re in one of these regions, you can apply for a card or join the waitlist if your country isn’t supported yet and be among the first to experience true non-custodial crypto spending.
Not in one of those countries? Stay tuned. We’re expanding access over time, with more regions and features to follow soon.
Why Algorand
This integration simply wouldn’t be possible on most other chains. Algorand’s speed, security, low fees, and instant finality provide the ideal foundation for real-world crypto payments that are fully decentralized and transparent.
If you’re building in Web3—whether in fintech, gaming, or DeFi—this is your call to action. Start thinking about how you can leverage these same primitives to build something your users can actually use.
Learn more
🔧 Explore the Integration Guide
🛠️ Build with Algorand: dev.algorand.co
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