Mastercard and Circle are deepening their longstanding partnership to enable USDC and EURC settlement for acquirers in the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA) region. This expansion addresses real-world challenges and improves efficiencies across a range of use cases.
This initiative marks the first time the acquiring ecosystem in EEMEA can settle transactions with stablecoins, further cementing Mastercard’s role in bridging blockchain-native crypto assets with traditional fiat commerce infrastructure. The first beneficiaries of this expanded effort will be Arab Financial Services and Eazy Financial Services.
Acquiring institutions can now receive settlements in USDC or EURC—fully-reserved stablecoins issued by regulated affiliates of Circle, which they can then use to settle with merchants. This paves the way for a new era of efficient and trusted digital trade across emerging markets. The move builds upon existing efforts between Circle and Mastercard in the region on crypto card solutions, such as Bybit and S1LKPAY, which use USDC to settle transactions.
Dimitrios Dosis, President, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Mastercard, said that the move is crucial and strategic for Mastercard, considering its focus on integrating stablecoins into the financial mainstream by investing in the infrastructure, governance, and partnerships to support this exciting payment evolution from fiat to tokenized and programmable money.
“Through our expanded partnership with Circle, we are taking bold steps in integrating their innovative use across our global network. We know that trust is essential to scale, and we are proud to play a leading role by applying our decades of experience in security and compliance to the stablecoin space,” he said
According to Kash Razzaghi, Chief Business Officer at Circle, expanding USDC settlement across Mastercard’s vast network of acquirers in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa is a pivotal step toward truly borderless, real-time commerce.
“Our expanded partnership with Mastercard will enable wider reach, global access, and scaled impact, so that USDC can become as ubiquitous as traditional payments. Together with Mastercard, we are advancing the role of stablecoins as a foundational tool for everyday financial activity worldwide,” added Kash.
Samer Soliman, CEO, AFS, pointed out that as the first acquirer in the region to pioneer USDC stablecoin settlement, we are delivering a strategic and transformative solution.
“This innovation provides the future-ready infrastructure our clients need to stay competitive in an era of continuous market transformation. The new capability directly solves a key market need for greater liquidity and operational efficiency, significantly reducing the friction traditionally associated with high-volume settlements. Our partnerships with Mastercard and Circle are foundational to the offering, ensuring our clients can confidently embrace digital asset innovation within a framework of security and regulatory compliance.”
Nayef Al Alawi, Founder, MD & CEO, Eazy Financial Services, reiterated that the collaboration with Mastercard and Circle to enable USDC settlement aligns with our mission to deliver faster, more secure, and more efficient payment solutions to our clients.
Further adding that this milestone sets a new standard for digital settlement in the region and reflects our commitment to driving financial innovation that meets the evolving needs of merchants and consumers alike.”
Mastercard continues to support the global growth of stablecoins and today enables end-to-end stablecoin payments. This includes ongoing, global work with Circle to give merchants the option to receive payments in stablecoins—regardless of how a consumer chooses to pay.
Along with USDC, Mastercard supports a growing portfolio of regulated stablecoins from issuers worldwide, including Paxos’s USDG, Fiserv’s FIUSD, and PayPal’s PYUSD.
In addition, Mastercard is driving broader efforts to power regulated, real-world stablecoin use cases across remittances, B2B transactions, and payouts to gig workers and creators via platforms like Mastercard Move and the Multi-Token Network (MTN).
This work is underpinned by Mastercard’s robust infrastructure, including Crypto Credential and Crypto Secure, which ensures stablecoin transactions meet the highest standards for security and compliance.
As stablecoins gain traction and scale across the EEMEA region, Mastercard’s approach prioritizes scalability, regulatory alignment, and tangible utility, reinforcing its position at the forefront of payments innovation.