Mastercard announced on Monday a range of global end-to-end features for stablecoins, from card issuance and merchant settlement to on-chain remittances and innovative payment applications, planning to ensure that people and businesses can send and receive stablecoin payments anytime and anywhere through comprehensive integration solutions.
Wallet Empowerment, Issuance, and Payment Acceptance
Mastercard stated that it has partnered with companies in the crypto space, including MetaMask, Kraken, Gemini, Bybit, Crypto.com, Binance, Monavate, and Bleap, allowing consumers to use stablecoins from their crypto wallets for purchases, earn rewards, and withdraw stablecoins to bank accounts using Mastercard Move at over 150 million merchant locations globally that accept Mastercard.
Mastercard also announced it is collaborating with cryptocurrency exchange OKX to launch the OKX Card, allowing millions of users to easily use crypto funds. OKX CMO Haider Rafique stated:
"Our partnership with Mastercard to launch the OKX Card reflects our commitment to making digital finance more accessible, practical, and closer to everyday life. Through this collaboration, we are moving towards the important goal of integrating stablecoins into daily transactions and creating a richer user experience—while leveraging OKX's leadership in the crypto trading space and the growing Web3 ecosystem to attract more new users to explore the on-chain world."
Merchant Settlement and On-Chain Remittance
As acquirers and merchants increasingly explore and utilize digital assets for settlement, Mastercard has partnered with Nuvei and Circle, enabling merchants to choose to settle payments in stablecoins like USDC issued by Circle, regardless of the payment method chosen by consumers. Mastercard is also collaborating with Paxos to implement this feature on stablecoins issued by Paxos.
Regarding cross-border remittances, Mastercard stated that its launched "Crypto Credential" addresses user experience and security issues, allowing users of cryptocurrency exchanges to send and receive digital assets using simple and trusted usernames. Wirex, Bit2Me, Lirium, Notabene, Coins.ph, and Mercado Bitcoin have joined this ecosystem.
Mastercard also noted that stablecoins can simplify settlement processes between global markets and currencies, with its "Multi-Token Network (MTN)" helping to achieve real-time payments and redemptions, enabling partners like Ondo Finance to utilize on-chain tokenized assets. The company mentioned that JPMorgan and Standard Chartered have connected to the MTN, "combining deposit accounts with emerging digital asset use cases."
Mastercard product head Jorn Lambert stated: "The benefits of mainstream use cases for blockchain and digital assets are evident. To truly realize their potential, we need to make it just as easy for merchants to accept stablecoin payments and for consumers to use stablecoins. We believe stablecoins have the potential to simplify payments and commerce across the value chain."
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