In a recent report, a securities affiliate of Banco Santander has assessed the potential impact of digital currency bitcoin on banks and payments industry, CoinDesk reported.

Titled “To Bitcoin or Not To Bitcoin?”, the report has been authored by Henrique Navarro and Bruno Mendonca. The authors believe that the question in this report’s title will eventually be answered with a resounding “Yes, to bitcoin”.

According to the report, card issuers and acquirers are the most at risk and the risk increases as more and more merchants and suppliers accept bitcoin.

“Simply put, we believe a future with bitcoin transactions with their low (or no) costs and fees puts at risk the entire business model of credit and debit card companies. Acquirers such as Cielo (through net MDRs and POS revenue) and issuer banks (through interchange fees) potentially could suffer the most, in our view”, it said.

On the other hand, the authors believe that card brands such as Visa, Mastercard, Elo, and others could be safer from the bitcoin threat, as, similar to banks, they could benefit from the blockchain concept in order to lower transaction, IT, and back-office costs.

With respect to the banking industry, the authors note that although banks consider the technology to be in early stages, it has not prevented them from taking action. They wrote:

“We believe the blockchain concept has the potential to redefine money transactions in the banking world, taking advantage of the power of decentralized computer networks to eliminate difficult, time-consuming, and costly trading among banks. IT, transaction costs, the banks’ huge back-offices, capital requirements—all of those could change in a material way, in our view”.

The authors also note that the perception that bitcoin can be used for money laundering is starting to change. To that end, the report stated:

“In October 2015 the Bank of England concluded that the overall risk that digital currencies could be used for money-laundering purposes is low”.