Mastercard Expands Circle Partnership to Enable EEMEA Stablecoin Settlements

Through the collaboration, Mastercard and Circle hope to empower acquiring institutions to get their settlement in USDC or EURC, which they can then use to settle with merchants. This builds upon existing efforts between Circle and Mastercard in the region on crypto card solutions, such as Bybit and S1LKPAY, which use USDC to settle transactions.

This expanded effort marks the first time that the acquiring ecosystem in EEMEA will be able to settle transactions in stablecoins, further cementing Mastercard’s role in connecting blockchain-native crypto assets with traditional fiat commerce infrastructure.

“Our strategic goal is to integrate stablecoins into the financial mainstream by investing in the infrastructure, governance, and partnerships to support this exciting payment evolution from fiat to tokenised and programmable money,” said Dimitrios Dosis, president, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Mastercard. “Through our expanded partnership with Circle, we are taking bold steps in integrating their innovative use across our global network. We know that trust is essential to scale, and we are proud to play a leading role by applying our decades of experience in security and compliance to the stablecoin space.”

Arab Financial Services and Eazy Financial Services will become the first companies to benefit from this expanded effort.

“This milestone sets a new standard for digital settlement in the region and reflects our commitment to driving financial innovation that meets the evolving needs of merchants and consumers alike,” said Nayef Al Alawi, founder, MD and CEO at Eazy Financial Services.

Expanding stablecoin use cases

“Expanding USDC settlement across Mastercard’s vast network of acquirers in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa is a pivotal step toward truly borderless, real-time commerce,” added Kash Razzaghi, chief business officer at Circle. “Our expanded partnership with Mastercard will enable wider reach, global access, and scaled impact, so that USDC can become as ubiquitous as traditional payments. Together with Mastercard, we are advancing the role of stablecoins as a foundational tool for everyday financial activity worldwide.”

Mastercard will continue to support the growth of stablecoins globally and today enables end-to-end stablecoin payments. This includes ongoing, global work with Circle to give merchants the option to receive their payments in stablecoins – regardless of how a consumer chooses to pay.

“As the first acquirer in the region to pioneer USDC stablecoin settlement, we are delivering a strategic and transformative solution,” explained Samer Soliman, CEO of AFS. “This innovation provides the future-ready infrastructure our clients need to stay competitive in an era of continuous market transformation. The new capability directly solves a key market need for greater liquidity and operational efficiency, significantly reducing the friction traditionally associated with high-volume settlements. Our partnerships with Mastercard and Circle are foundational to the offering, ensuring our clients can confidently embrace digital asset innovation within a framework of security and regulatory compliance.”

In addition, Mastercard is driving broader efforts to drive regulated, real-world stablecoin use cases across remittances, B2B transactions, and payouts to gig workers and creators via platforms like Mastercard Move and the Multi-Token Network (MTN). Underpinning this is Mastercard’s robust infrastructure – including Crypto Credential and Crypto Secure – which ensures stablecoin transactions meet the highest standards for security and compliance.

Credit source: This article was originally published on TheFintechTimes