Visa Pulls the Plug on Meme Coin Rewards Loophole — Points Off the Menu 🪙

Visa is moving to close an apparent loophole that let buyers of meme coins earn standard credit card rewards on purchases processed by Crossmint, a crypto payments infrastructure firm, according to a source familiar with the matter, as reported by Crypto In America. The workaround allowed meme coin transactions made with Visa credit cards to be processed under a merchant code intended for ordinary digital media. Banks failed to secure broader restrictions on stablecoin rewards after the Clarity Act stalled in the Senate this week, but JP Morgan has now scored a narrower win on the credit card rewards front.

The change follows an investigation by The Block, which found that users of the Robinhood Wallet and Fomo apps could buy meme coins with credit cards through Apple Pay or Google Pay without completing a separate KYC process. Test purchases powered by Crossmint and made with both Visa and Mastercard credit cards were coded as "digital goods media," a category typically used for e-books, movies and music, rather than as crypto transactions. That coding allowed customers to earn standard credit card rewards such as points or cash back on those meme coin buys.

Chase told The Block that one Visa transaction had not been flagged as a cryptocurrency purchase, had been assigned the wrong merchant category code and should not have earned rewards. The bank subsequently opened a case with Visa challenging the classification. The New York attorney general's office also told The Block it was aware of and reviewing the matter. Crossmint defended its approach by pointing to a 2025 SEC staff statement that described certain meme coins as akin to collectibles rather than securities.

In correspondence reviewed by Crypto In America, Visa told at least one industry participant that the merchant code used for digital goods media is not appropriate for meme coin purchases. The company has also informed payment processors, including Checkout.com, that the code will no longer be accepted for those transactions, the source said. The processors have been given a grace period to wind down the practice, which is expected to end next week. Visa and Crossmint did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Going forward, the purchases must be processed as crypto transactions and will be subject to Visa's corresponding rules and restrictions, with credit card rewards effectively eliminated.