Circle, the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), is taking a major step toward integrating stablecoins into traditional finance through new strategic partnerships with Mastercard and Finastra. These collaborations are among the most significant efforts to date to expand stablecoin use in everyday financial services.
Mastercard is launching a pilot program that will allow merchants and acquirers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) to settle transactions in USDC and Euro Coin (EURC). This is the first time Mastercard has enabled stablecoin settlement on its regional network. According to the company, using stablecoins will help merchants receive payments more quickly and efficiently than traditional systems, which can be slow and rely on many intermediaries. This initiative shows Mastercard's growing confidence in digital assets as a supplement to existing payment networks, with the potential to expand globally.
Finastra, a leading financial software firm, has integrated USDC support into its Global PAYplus platform. This platform, used by banks in over 50 countries, handles trillions of dollars in cross-border transactions daily. The integration will allow banks to settle payments in USDC even if the original transaction was in a fiat currency like the dollar, euro, or British pound. This plug-in solution enables banks to offer faster and more cost-effective international payments without overhauling their existing infrastructure.
These new partnerships are part of a wider strategy by Circle to embed USDC into the global financial system. The company's recent efforts also include:
These combined efforts suggest a clear goal: to make USDC a core component of the world's financial infrastructure, from consumer payments to large-scale cross-border banking.
August 2025, Cryptoniteuae