FIS, which owns payment provider WorldPay and offers technology solutions to banks, has partnered with NYDIG, a crypto asset management and digital custody firm.

Together, they hope to empower hundreds of smaller U.S. banks to provide account holders with access to Bitcoin, NYDIG’s only digital currency.

According to the theory, many citizens are unlikely to open an account or wallet with a specialized cryptocurrency exchange. They’d be more at ease if they could access it through a banking app.

Late last year, the partners collaborated to enable the New York-based digital Quontic digital bank to offer a Bitcoin rewards debit card.

The FIS Digital One Mobile solution will have access to cryptocurrencies. In addition, FIS Ventures put money into NYDIG. NYDIG, a Stone Ridge subsidiary, reported a $200 million funding round in March, with Morgan Stanley, New York Life, MassMutual, Soros Fund Management, and

FS Investments among the founders. Morgan Stanley also announced that its wealthy clients would have access to cryptocurrencies through NYDIG and Galaxy Digital asset management.

“As the demand for bitcoin as a store of value grows, FIS is focused on enabling our core banking clients to adapt to rising consumer demand and better serve their customers,” said Rob Lee, FIS’s head of global core banking and channels.

“Unlocking these capabilities of all sizes levels the playing field for bitcoin banking and can spur more innovation,” says the author.

Meanwhile, in recent years, FIS has been involved in several blockchain-related activities. It is a member of the Hedera Hashgraph and Korea’s Klaytn networks’ governing councils (Worldpay in the case of Klaytn), as well as Visa’s B2B Connect blockchain high-value payments solution.

It also collaborates with Billon, a bitcoin startup based in Poland and the United Kingdom that holds an e-money licence.