Mastercard and Circle are deepening their partnership to bring the benefits of stablecoins to merchants and payment processors in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA). This collaboration allows acquirers, the financial institutions that process card payments for merchants, to settle transactions using USDC and EURC, stablecoins that are fully backed by reserve assets.
This marks the first time that the acquiring ecosystem in the EEMEA region can use stablecoins for settlement. The move connects blockchain-based assets with Mastercard’s traditional payment network, aiming to create a more efficient and trusted digital commerce environment. Arab Financial Services and Eazy Financial Services are the first to adopt this new capability, which allows them to receive settlements in USDC or EURC and then use those stablecoins to pay merchants.
Mastercard sees this as a key step toward integrating stablecoins into the financial mainstream. The company’s goal is to evolve payments from traditional fiat to “tokenized and programmable money,” with a focus on security and compliance. Circle’s Chief Business Officer, Kash Razzaghi, highlighted that the expansion is a “pivotal step toward truly borderless, real-time commerce,” aiming to make stablecoins as common as traditional payments.
This new effort builds on the existing collaboration between Mastercard and Circle, which has already facilitated crypto card solutions in the region. Mastercard is committed to supporting the global growth of stablecoins, and this initiative aligns with its broader strategy to enable end-to-end stablecoin payments, including for remittances and B2B transactions.