Robinhood Wallet and Fomo’s support for credit card purchases of meme coins has sparked controversy, with the two platforms allegedly circumventing credit card crypto transaction rules.

Robinhood Wallet and the Fomo app now allow users to directly purchase meme coins via Visa or Mastercard credit cards through Apple Pay or Google Pay, with no identity verification required, and transactions still earn credit card points or cashback. This feature has sparked controversy. The service is provided by crypto infrastructure firm Crossmint, whose Token Checkout product classifies meme coin transactions under Merchant Category Code (MCC) 5815 "Digital Goods – Media" instead of labeling them as cryptocurrency purchases. This category was originally designed for goods such as e-books and digital films. Chase, the card issuer under JPMorgan, said after an investigation that the Visa transactions were not flagged as cryptocurrency purchases. The bank argues the MCC code was used incorrectly, meaning the transactions should not qualify for points, and has filed a case against Visa over the issue. Separately, the New York State Attorney General’s Office is aware of the matter and is reviewing it. Crossmint maintains the classification is valid, citing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s prior statement that certain meme coins can be deemed "digital collectibles" in a securities context, and referencing an example in the joint guidance from the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that lists WIF as a digital collectible. Payment experts point out that card network rules and SEC guidelines are "two completely independent systems". Visa and Mastercard have explicit requirements for MCC codes (6051/6012) and special labeling for direct cryptocurrency transactions, and these requirements do not get waived due to a token’s "collectible" status.