Circle joins MasterCard and Finastra to promote stablecoin payments in Europe and Africa

According to ChainCatcher, according to Circle, it has cooperated 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 provided stablecoin settlement services in the region. Finastra, a London-based financial software provider, also announced on Wednesday that it would integrate USDC into its GlobalPAYplus platform. The platform handles cross-border transactions on average daily basis exceeding US$5 trillion. Circle said the integration would enable banks in 50 countries to use USDC for international payment settlements, even if the payment instructions are still denominated in fiat currency.