SoFi begins stablecoin settlement on Mastercard network as card volume tops $25 billion annualized

Traders Union
All News
Crypto
SoFi stablecoin on Mastercard

Highlights

SoFi began settling debit and credit card transactions with SoFiUSD across Mastercard’s network, migrating its entire card program to the new system.
Mastercard and SoFi moved stablecoin settlement into live production, enabling instant merchant settlement without altering payment systems, with SoFi card volume topping $25 billion annualized.
SoFiUSD, available on Ethereum and Solana, could expand use across Mastercard’s supported blockchains and into cross-border payments and remittances.

Card program migration and launch timeline

As reported by The Block, SoFi says it has started settling debit and credit card transactions with SoFiUSD across Mastercard's network and is moving its entire card program to the new system.

The launch follows a March agreement between the two companies under which SoFi planned to use SoFiUSD to settle its own Mastercard transactions. They also said at the time that the settlement option is expected to be offered to other issuing banks through SoFi's Galileo technology platform.

SoFiUSD launched last December and became available to users of the SoFi banking app in May. The stablecoin is issued by SoFi Bank, an OCC-regulated nationally chartered bank, and is redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars with reserves consisting primarily of cash, according to the company.

Merchant use and payments industry impact

SoFi Chief Executive Anthony Noto says merchants do not need to hold SoFiUSD or change existing payment systems to use the service. Through SoFi's Big Business Banking platform, merchants can receive instant settlement funds in a SoFi Bank account and withdraw cash around the clock at no cost.

Mastercard's Global Head of Digital Commercialization, Sherri Haymond, says the rollout moves stablecoin settlement from experimentation into live production while keeping Mastercard's existing safeguards and scale. SoFi says it is already discussing stablecoin settlement arrangements with large U.S. merchants, including multinational retailers and technology service platforms, though it does not name the companies.

SoFiUSD is available on Ethereum and Solana. Mastercard's wider stablecoin settlement strategy spans Arbitrum, Base, Canton, Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Tempo and the XRP Ledger, and the company said in June that it expanded support to include USDC, PYUSD, RLUSD and other regulated stablecoins across multiple blockchains. SoFi and Mastercard say they are also exploring further uses for SoFiUSD on the network, including cross-border payments and remittances.

In our earlier coverage of EU policymakers’ proposed adjustments to MiCA’s stablecoin reserve framework, we explained that the ECB and other central banks oppose requiring major issuers to keep a fixed share of reserves as bank deposits. They argued this could increase risks for lenders and instead suggested holding a minimum portion of reserves in highly liquid assets maturing within one to five working days, while also warning that enforcement challenges persist as some non-compliant crypto firms continue serving EU customers.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.