Mastercard Adds Stablecoin Settlement for Card Transactions

Mastercard announced plans to expand its settlement capabilities so issuers and acquirers can settle some card transactions using regulated stablecoins. The new options include intraday, weekend and holiday settlement, supporting both fiat and on-chain settlement through regulated stablecoins to give partners more flexibility in managing liquidity and timing.

The stablecoin option will support Circle’s USDC; Paxos-issued PYUSD, USDG and USDP; Ripple’s RLUSD; and SoFi’s SoFiUSD. Mastercard plans to enable these coins across supported blockchain networks including Arbitrum, Base, Canton, Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Tempo and XRPL.

The expansion follows Mastercard securing a New York BitLicense in May, allowing its US transaction services unit to conduct regulated digital asset business activity in the state. ARQ (formerly DolarApp), CBW Bank, Cross River, Lead Bank and Nuvei are expected to be among the first to offer stablecoin settlement optionality in the United States and Latin America.

United States, New York; Latin America

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