Mastercard To Accept USDC Payments in Asia-Pacific Region

Payments giant Mastercard has partnered with Stables to provide USDC payments in the APAC (Asia Pacific) region. Stables is an Australia-based stablecoin platform. The firm has developed a stablecoin-only wallet, which comes with a card powered by Mastercard.

Stables’ wallet is capable of accepting deposits in other stablecoins as well, such as Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD). However, all deposits are automatically converted to USDC at zero charges. The integration is anticipated to go live in June, Q2 2023. Mastercard’s USDC payments will be first available in Australia. However, the payment option will later be available throughout Europe, the US, the UK, and most of Asia Pacific.

Stables co-founder and CEO, Erez Rachamim said that the initiative was driven by the need for “simple and accessible means” to use digital assets. Additionally, the effort is matched by an increased appetite among digital asset holders to use a debit card to spend digital currencies. In a Marqeta global poll, 82% of participants showed an interest in such a solution. Furthermore, according to the survey, 55% of customers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) area are more comfortable investing in digital assets that are backed by credible companies.

Mastercard’s USDC integration shows its interest in crypto

The collaboration between Mastercard and Stables is a part of the payment industry giant’s larger investigation of payment options for the Web3 domain. The payments giant has made some big bets in the new emerging industry. Mastercard Vice-President and head of Fintech for Australasia, Kallan Hogan mentioned that the firm aims to give cardholders “the freedom to spend their assets where, how, and when they want.”

Moreover, Mastercard and New Zealand-based Web3 tech pioneer, Immersve cooperated to create the “Metaverse Mastercard” last month. With this DeFi payment card, users can make digital, physical, and metaverse transactions everywhere Mastercard is accepted. Users can use USDC directly from their Web3 wallet.

  • Mastercard
  • USDC

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