India’s Pine Labs will introduce a stablecoin-backed prepaid card in nine countries across the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia by the end of April, CEO Amrish Rau told Reuters.
The move marks the first push by a major Indian payments company into stablecoin-linked consumer payments.
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Rau said the Temasek and Peak XV-backed firm is targeting markets with a “stablecoin-friendly stance”, without naming the jurisdictions.
The product will not be launched in India or China, as per the report.
The card will draw funds from stablecoins held in users’ digital wallets and convert them into local currencies in real time at the point of sale, Rau said.
Global payments players such as Stripe, PayPal and Klarna already use stablecoins in cross-border transactions, as the asset class grows in popularity in emerging markets.
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By GlobalDataThe market value of stablecoins has surpassed $310bn, led by US dollar-pegged Tether and USDC, highlighted Reuters.
“Cross border payments potentially are getting replaced today by stablecoins… these are very real trends which are taking off globally and we are absolutely building for it,” Rau said.
India has not banned stablecoins, but the central bank has warned they could hinder monetary policy and enable illicit transfers.
Local payments firms, including Walmart-backed PhonePe and Paytm, do not offer stablecoin-based services.
China last month barred unauthorised offshore issuance of yuan-linked stablecoins and is tightening its stance on virtual currencies.
Pine Labs provides merchant payment solutions, including point-of-sale terminals. The company now serves clients in around 20 countries, with international business contributing about 17% of revenue, Rau said.
Gross revenue rose 24% year-on-year to 7.44 billion rupees ($81.4 million) in the December quarter.
Rau said the company is concentrating on AI-led payments, cross-border expansion and stablecoin projects.
“All tech companies are into stablecoins, they are into AI, they are into cross border. That’s the way to go… If you don’t capture that opportunity, Indian fintechs are going to get left behind,” he noted.
Recently, Pine Labs recently signed multi-year deals with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) to modernise digital payment systems across their fuel retail networks in India.
The company will deploy, manage and maintain payment acceptance infrastructure at petrol pumps and merchant outlets nationwide.
In November, Pine Labs obtained Reserve Bank of India licences to operate as a payment aggregator for offline, online and cross-border transactions, according to a report by The Economic Times.
