Mastercard puts stablecoins at center of cross-border push

Mastercard sees stablecoins gaining the most traction in cross-border payments, CEO Michael Miebach says, with business transfers a focus.

International transfers offer the strongest current application for the tokens, Miebach said during a Friday television interview in London. He described corporate interest as an opportunity for Mastercard, while cautioning that broad consumer adoption is not yet his expectation.

Miebach identified transfer delays and uncertain charges as shortcomings of existing cross-border services. For businesses, he argued, immediate access to transferred funds would improve the management of working capital, the money used to support day-to-day operations.

Business transfers lead Mastercard's interest

The distinction between corporate demand and consumer use runs through Miebach's assessment. His account places the immediate commercial opening in how businesses move funds internationally, rather than in a widespread change to how individuals pay.

Miebach said he was meeting businesses in London that had expressed interest in stablecoins. He did not identify those companies or provide figures showing how much payment activity Mastercard currently handles through the tokens.

If businesses can receive cross-border funds immediately rather than wait for settlement, the working-capital benefit Miebach described would depend on those funds being available for use. That makes the practical handling of a transfer, not simply demand for a digital asset, central to the case he outlined.

Open Standard draws payments company backing

Mastercard Inc., Visa Inc. and Stripe are among roughly 100 additional companies backing Open Standard, a new business that has issued a stablecoin linked to the US dollar. The initiative seeks to broaden everyday applications for digital tokens.

Explaining Mastercard's interest, Miebach said the company wanted to “create a stablecoin particularly focused on moving money instead of investment purposes”. That emphasis separates the intended payment function from buying a token in anticipation of an investment return.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies structured to hold a relatively constant value, generally through a link to an asset such as a conventional currency. In Open Standard's case, the reference currency is the US dollar; the intended stability is a design objective, not evidence that every payment function has been demonstrated.

Mastercard's expansion also includes the acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure business BVNK, with a maximum transaction value of $1.8 billion. The deal adds an infrastructure investment alongside the company's participation in Open Standard, although Miebach's remarks provided no quantified assessment of the commercial returns.

Consumer adoption remains a separate test

If corporate interest becomes recurring payment activity, Mastercard's opportunity would lie in serving those transfers, consistent with Miebach's assessment. For the wider payments sector, that scenario would put greater emphasis on competing over settlement times and transparent charges.

If consumers remain slower to adopt the tokens, business usage could develop without an equivalent shift in everyday retail payments. Any broader effect on international commerce would depend on the scale of adoption and whether the proposed speed and cost benefits materialize.

Miebach also addressed artificial intelligence, saying it brings benefits alongside additional risks. His warning that the technology assists both criminals and those combating fraud leaves security as a separate concern from whether stablecoins can make transfers more efficient.