SoFi & Mastercard bring stablecoin to card settlement

SoFi and Mastercard have agreed to a partnership that would make SoFiUSD available as a settlement option across Mastercard's global payments network, adding a stablecoin route for card-transaction settlement.

The arrangement centres on SoFiUSD, a U.S. dollar stablecoin issued by SoFi Bank. SoFi says the stablecoin is fully reserved and redeemable one-to-one for U.S. dollars, and describes it as the first stablecoin offered by a U.S. nationally chartered and insured deposit bank on a public, permissionless blockchain.

Under the partnership, the firms plan to explore how issuers and acquirers could settle card-based transactions with Mastercard using SoFiUSD. They link the work to faster settlement options for Mastercard customers, with potential use cases including cross-border remittances and business-to-business money transfers.

Network settlement

SoFi Bank is expected to settle its own credit and debit transactions that run over the Mastercard network in SoFiUSD. The agreement also covers Galileo, SoFi's technology platform that provides payment and account services to other financial firms.

Galileo is expected to be among the first providers to offer its payment-card clients and their issuing banks the option to settle transactions using SoFiUSD. That would place the stablecoin in the flows used by programme managers and banks that issue cards through Galileo's platform.

Mastercard also expects SoFiUSD to be supported on the Mastercard Multi-Token Network (MTN), which it positions as a digital asset platform connecting traditional money with digital assets. The integration is intended to support interoperability across fiat currencies, stablecoins, and tokenised deposits.

The partnership also includes work on additional interoperability use cases spanning stablecoins, fiat, and tokenised assets. The companies pointed to programmable treasury applications, as well as additional money-movement and payout scenarios.

Stablecoin momentum

The announcement comes as stablecoins move further into mainstream payments discussions. The companies cited industry figures showing roughly US$30 billion transacted per day, and said stablecoin issuance in 2025 doubled from the prior year.

They also cited survey data suggesting more than half of people with crypto holdings held stablecoins in the past 12 months, and more than 75% would open a stablecoin wallet if their bank or fintech app offered one.

For Mastercard, the tie-up is the latest effort to incorporate stablecoins into established payment rails, where settlement between financial institutions remains a complex part of the system. For SoFi, it is a significant distribution step for a stablecoin issued from within its regulated banking entity, rather than through a separate crypto-native issuer.

The companies noted that future opportunities-including stablecoin-enabled card programmes, cross-border remittances, and disbursements-would be subject to regulatory considerations and Mastercard network rules.

"SoFiUSD is at the heart of our strategy to make it faster, cheaper, and safer for people around the world to move money," said Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi. "With SoFiUSD as a settlement currency across Mastercard's network, card issuers and acquirers can more easily enable the millions of businesses they serve around the globe to instantly settle transactions, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is only the beginning of our efforts to bring SoFi's bank-grade infrastructure to digital commerce."

Mastercard framed the work as expanding stablecoin use across its network and bridging regulated digital money with existing payments infrastructure.

"By working with SoFi to enable SoFiUSD across the Mastercard network, we're expanding how trusted digital currencies can be used at global scale," said Sherri Haymond, Global Head of Digital Commercialization, Mastercard. "Bringing stablecoin settlement on our network will connect regulated stablecoins with the reliability, security, and reach that consumers, businesses and financial institutions expect. And this effort expands choice and flexibility across the payments ecosystem in how people pay or get paid."

SoFiUSD is issued by SoFi Bank, an insured depository institution regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The stablecoin is fully reserved by cash and designed for immediate redemption. The companies expect to explore additional opportunities to expand SoFiUSD adoption over time, including settlement options for more payment flows on the Mastercard network.