Circle’s attempts to position the USDC stablecoin as a key element of the global finance sector are only intensifying. This week, the New York City-headquartered company, finalized partnership deals with Mastercard and Finastra to give more definition to its USDC ambitions.
Circle’s tango with Mastercard
On August 27, Circle announced an expansion of its partnership with Mastercard that now focuses on the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA) region. The deal will essentially enable acquirers in the region to facilitate settlements in Circle’s USDC and EURC stablecoins.
“We are advancing the role of stablecoins as a foundational tool for everyday financial activity worldwide,” Kash Razzaghi, the Chief Business Officer at Circle said in his statement.
For Mastercard, meanwhile, the deal would further establish it as an early bridge between crypto and traditional finance in the region.
“This is a key move for Mastercard. 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 tokenized and programmable money,” said Dimitrios Dosis, president, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Mastercard.
Announcing the development, Mastercard said that this effort marks the first time that stablecoins would become a mode of settlement in EEMA’s acquiring ecosystem. It also highlighted that Arab Financial Services and Eazy Financial Services will be the first to benefit from this initiative.
Circle’s foray with Finastra
Founded in 2017, Finastra is a fintech firm that offers financial solutions to over 9,000 institutions including 90 banks. The London-based company claims to be among the largest fintect firms in the world.
As part of the Circle-Finastra partnership, Circle’s stablecoin infrastructure will be integrated into Finastra’s fintech solutions to offer cost-efficient international transfers. The U.K. firm’s Global PAYplus (GPP) will be its first to get connected to Circle and process fiat to stablecoin payments.
“This collaboration is about giving banks the tools they need to innovate in cross-border payments without having to build a standalone payment processing infrastructure,” said Chris Walters, CEO of Finastra.
Essentially, the partnership is expected to give Finastra’s bank clients to option to break free from the traditional transactional chains and tap into faster settlements via compliant stablecoins.
“We’re enabling financial institutions to test and launch innovative payment models that combine blockchain technology with the scale and trust of the existing banking system,” said Jeremy Allaire, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Circle commenting on the development.
Circle partnership fabric
Over the past few months, the USDC issuer has intensified its thrust into crypto as well as traditional markets.
Last month, for instance, the stablecoin firm entered a partnership with OKX crypto exchange to upgrade the liquidity quotient for the USDC token.
The company also joined forces with fintech services provider FIS to embed $USDC into traditional banking infrastructure through FIS’s Money Movement Hub in the U.S.
Japan’s SBI Holdings and its banking unit, SBI Shinsei Bank jointly invested $50 million in Circle following its high-profile public debut on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5.
The next key feat for the stablecoin-maker is to set up U.S.’ first National Digital Currency Bank in place. Circle has officially applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) looking for an approval to go ahead with its plan.