Nium, a major player in cross-border payment infrastructure, has partnered with Coinbase to help businesses send and receive USDC stablecoin payments across more than 190 countries.
The integration went live on Tuesday, giving Nium’s clients access to Coinbase’s regulated infrastructure for stablecoin transactions, wallet services, and custody.
According to the announcement, Nium’s clients can now handle both onchain payments and traditional fiat rails from the same platform. As a result, businesses may face less operational work when sending money across borders.
Nium said the Coinbase integration allows it to offer stablecoin payout services through its network of more than 40 licenses worldwide and across more than 190 countries.
The company said the setup is built to give businesses a secure and compliant way to use stablecoin payments at scale.
How the partnership works
At the center of the partnership is USDC, the dollar-pegged stablecoin that businesses can use to fund payouts and then convert into local currency when money reaches the final destination.
Nium said this can help firms move away from prefunding models, where companies often have to park money in different markets before a payment is made. Instead, the new structure aims to support just-in-time liquidity.
That matters in cross-border payments because prefunding can tie up working capital for long periods. In the new arrangement, a business can hold value in USDC, use Nium’s infrastructure, and convert funds into fiat at the payout stage.
Nium said this creates a smoother way to connect stablecoin balances with real-world payment systems. The companies said the partnership reflects a broader shift as stablecoins move beyond crypto trading and into real financial operations.
Nium called stablecoins an emerging base layer for global payments and liquidity management, while Coinbase said the deal helps expand their use in institutional payment flows.
What businesses can do with it?
Nium said businesses using the new service can send cross-border payouts with USDC and choose to settle the payment in either USDC or regular money at the final stage.
The company said this could reduce the need to keep money parked in different regions before payments are made. As a result, businesses may be able to use their capital more efficiently instead of leaving it locked across payment routes.
The partnership also includes card programs linked to stablecoin balances. Nium said businesses that hold stablecoins can launch USDC-backed cards and use them at merchant locations around the world wherever cards are accepted.
This gives companies another practical way to use stablecoins beyond treasury management and cross-border payouts.
Prajit Nanu, CEO and founder of Nium, said, “The future of money movement is multi-rail. Fiat and onchain infrastructure will increasingly work together, not in isolation.”
He added, “This partnership with Coinbase makes that future operational today – giving our clients a single platform to send, receive and spend stablecoins at scale ahead of a fundamental shift in how money moves.”
Alec Lovett, Head of Infrastructure Products at Coinbase, said stablecoins are changing the way money moves around the world and added that Coinbase wants to support their use at an institutional scale.
He said the partnership with Nium will help institutions connect digital asset liquidity with global fiat payment infrastructure more smoothly.
Nium and Circle grow stablecoin payment reach
This announcement follows Nium’s recent launch of a stablecoin card issuance platform and shows that the company is building more tools for business use.
Nium already supports payouts in 100 currencies across more than 190 countries. It also offers real-time settlement in over 100 markets.
The company also works as a principal card issuer on major networks like Visa and Mastercard and handles millions of card transactions each year. With USDC now added, Nium is giving clients another simple and efficient way to move money.
USDC is the world’s second-largest stablecoin, with a market capitalization of about $78 billion as of April 21, according to CoinMarketCap.
Circle is also expanding USDC’s payment utility. The company recently launched the USDC Bridge. This new system enables users to move USDC directly across blockchains.
Circle said the tool is designed to make cross-chain transfers faster, cheaper, and safer by reducing reliance on outside bridges and wrapped tokens.
The company also introduced CPN Managed Payments. This service helps financial institutions use stablecoins for payments without dealing with the crypto infrastructure on their own.