Mastercard has announced plans to expand its settlement capabilities to include intraday settlement as well as weekend and holiday card settlement.
In a statement, the company said the updates will support both fiat currency settlement and on-chain card settlement using regulated stablecoins.
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Mastercard said the changes are intended to give issuers and acquirers “greater flexibility” over when and how card transactions are settled across its global payments network.
The company said the expanded options are aimed at use cases where settlement timing and transparency are important, including cross-border payments, treasury activity and payouts.
Mastercard said Circle’s USDC is already being used for early on-chain settlement flows in select markets. It also listed additional stablecoins it plans to support, including Paxos-issued stablecoins PYUSD, USDG and USDP, Ripple’s RLUSD and SoFi’s SoFiUSD.
The payment group said these stablecoins will be enabled across multiple blockchain networks, including Arbitrum, Base, Canton, Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Tempo and XRPL.
Mastercard added that ARQ (formerly known as DolarApp), CBW Bank, Cross River, Lead Bank and Nuvei are expected to be among the first to support stablecoin settlement optionality in the US and Latin America.
Further expansion is planned through 2026.
Mastercard Blockchain & Digital Assets executive vice president Raj Dhamodharan said: “The next phase of stablecoin adoption is about real-world utility, especially in settlement, where timing and liquidity matter most.
“By introducing intraday and weekend on settlement options across our global network, we’re expanding how partners manage liquidity and operate in an always-on digital economy while maintaining the trust, resilience and safeguards they expect from Mastercard.”
Mastercard will continue rolling out the expanded settlement capabilities globally, subject to regulation.
Recently, the company participated in a Eurosystem-led pilot on the TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) platform to test instant cross-currency payments (TIPS X-CCY).
It defined the pilot is a “key milestone” in its strategy to build direct connectivity to payment infrastructures.
