Circle enters into partnership with Mastercard and Finastra to promote stablecoin payments in Europe and Africa

According to BlockBeats, on August 28, Circle announced a cooperation with Mastercard and Finastra. This cooperation aims to integrate stablecoin settlement functions into mainstream finance and promote USDC to further integrate global payment fields. Mastercard said on Wednesday it will allow acquisition agencies and merchants in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) to use USDC and EURC to settle transactions, and Arab Financial Services and Eazy Financial Services will be the first to access the service, marking the first time Mastercard has offered stablecoin settlement services in the region. Finastra, a London-based financial software provider, also announced on Wednesday that it would integrate USDC into its Global PAYplus platform. The platform handles an average daily cross-border transaction volume of more than US$5 trillion. Circle said the integration will enable banks in 50 countries to use USDC for international payment settlements, even if the payment instructions are still denominated in fiat currency.