Visa shuts down the rewards-points loophole memecoin buyers were using

Visa has told payment processors, including Checkout.com, to stop routing memecoin purchases through merchant code 5815 — the "digital media" classification that let buyers of tokens on platforms like Fomo and Robinhood Wallet earn ordinary credit card rewards points or cash back, benefits normally unavailable for crypto purchases. The change follows a Block investigation published September 1 that first identified the practice, including cases involving tokens like GENIUS that stretched the definition of "memecoin" well past its internet-culture origins.

How the loophole worked — and closes

Crossmint, the infrastructure provider behind the flagged transactions, categorized memecoin purchases as digital media rather than flagging them as crypto-specific, sidestepping the reward restrictions card networks normally apply to crypto buys. Visa's instruction to processors ends that classification; a grace period was expected to run out the week of September 22, after which the same purchases would be processed as crypto transactions and lose reward eligibility.

Not everyone is calling it closed

A Crossmint representative said the company's "position and procedures on how we process digital goods" had not changed, while noting it would comply with any updated guidance it receives. Mastercard has not disclosed any similar move, leaving open whether the same loophole persists on its network.