Circle and Mastercard collaborated to allow the settlement of Circle’s USDC and EURC stablecoins for acquirers in the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA) region.
According to a press release issued by the companies on Tuesday, August 26, the partnership will enable digital trade in emerging markets by allowing acquiring institutions to settle in USDC or EURC and then use those stablecoins to settle with merchants.
“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,” Dimitrios Dosis, president, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Mastercard, said in the release.
Circle Chief Business Officer Kash Razzaghi said in the release: “Together with Mastercard, we are advancing the role of stablecoins as a foundational tool for everyday financial activity worldwide.”
Users of the solutions shared their experiences
Arab Financial Services is among the initial users of this solution. In the press release, the company’s CEO, Samer Soliman, stated that the new capability lessens the friction typically connected to high-volume settlements.
In the release, Nayef Al Alawi, the founder, managing director, and CEO of Eazy Financial Services, another early adopter, stated that this capability aids in providing “faster, more secure, and more efficient payment solutions.”
Extension of Mastercard-Circle’s previous partnership
The new product extends Mastercard and Circle’s previous collaboration. According to the release, the businesses already collaborate in the EEMEA region on cryptocurrency card solutions like Bybit and S1lkPay, which settle transactions using USDC.
According to Circle’s report on August 12, the amount of USDC in circulation increased by 90 per cent year over year to $61.3 billion as of June 30. By August 10, that amount had increased by 6.4 per cent to $65.2 billion.
The company’s market share of fiat-backed stablecoins was 28 per cent at the end of the second quarter, up 595 basis points from the previous year.
More partnerships for stablecoin use
In April, Mastercard announced several partnerships centred on stablecoin use, including wallet enablement, card issuing and acceptance, merchant settlement, on-chain remittances, differentiated value through cards and beyond, and powering more effective payments and commerce applications.
“We believe in the potential of stablecoins to streamline payments and commerce across the value chain,” Mastercard Chief Product Officer Jorn Lambert said in a press release.