Mastercard will integrate stablecoin balances into traditional banking and card payment systems.
The launch of the Global Money Platform marks Mastercard's first major integration since its acquisition of BVNK in August, with companies such as Nuvei and Marqeta among the first to adopt the platform.
Mastercard is expanding its presence in the stablecoin payments space by launching a new platform that enables businesses to integrate digital currencies into traditional banking and card services. This move could make it easier for businesses to offer stablecoin payments without building their own infrastructure.
The service, called the Global Funds Platform, is Mastercard’s first major integration since acquiring the stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK in August this year. Mastercard announced the news on Thursday.
According to Mastercard, businesses can use the platform to hold and convert fiat currency and stablecoins, issue cards linked to stablecoins, and make direct payments from stablecoin balances to recipients' local bank accounts.
This service integrates with Mastercard Move—Mastercard’s global payments network—which routes payments to over 17 billion destinations, including bank accounts and debit cards. The service also connects stablecoin balances to Mastercard’s merchant network, enabling customers to spend using payment cards. Nuvei, Marqeta, and several other fintech companies are among the first integration partners.
This release expands Mastercard’s role from merely processing payments to providing infrastructure that enables financial institutions to offer stablecoin services under their own brands. It also intensifies Mastercard’s direct competition with Visa, which launched a platform in July allowing financial institutions to hold, mint, and transfer stablecoins.
Meanwhile, Standard Chartered Bank's research shows that stablecoin trading activity is increasing, even though the circulating supply of major tokens like USDT and USDC has remained relatively stable overall this year.
Related: U.S. accounting reforms could make stablecoins more attractive to businesses: Tempo