The new partnerships with Mastercard and Finastra will help bridge the gap between crypto and finance
Circle is taking another step toward embedding stablecoins into the core of global finance, announcing new partnerships with Mastercard and financial software provider Finastra. The collaborations are designed to expand the use of Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) and Euro Coin across both merchant services and cross-border banking.
Mastercard revealed that it will begin enabling acquirers and merchants in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA) to settle transactions using USDC and Euro Coin. Arab Financial Services and Eazy Financial Services will be the first to adopt the program, representing the first time Mastercard has introduced stablecoin settlement in the region. The move underscores a broader effort to give businesses more flexibility in how they process payments while bridging traditional financial rails with digital assets.
Finastra, headquartered in London, will integrate USDC into its widely used Global PAYplus platform, which handles more than $5 trillion in cross-border flows each day. Through this integration, banks in 50 countries will be able to settle international transfers in stablecoins, even if the initial payment instructions are issued in traditional fiat currencies. This aims to reduce friction in cross-border transactions while broadening access to blockchain-based settlement options for financial institutions.
The announcement follows the US passage of the GENIUS Act in July, the first federal legislation establishing a framework for stablecoins. Since then, Circle has been aggressively building partnerships. In late July, it joined forces with OKX, one of the world’s largest exchanges, to offer zero-fee conversions between USDC and US dollars.
This month, Circle executives met with South Korea’s top four banks to explore onchain applications and the potential for a won-backed stablecoin. The company has also teamed up with Japan’s SBI Group, Ripple, and Startale to advance stablecoin adoption and build a tokenized asset trading platform.
Together, these efforts highlight Circle’s strategy to make USDC a bridge between crypto and mainstream financial systems worldwide.
