SoFi Brings Stablecoin Settlement to Mastercard
SoFi Bank has begun settling card transactions with SoFiUSD across Mastercard’s network as it migrates a program exceeding $25 billion in annualized volume.
The bank has moved its bank-issued stablecoin into mainstream card settlement, marking one of the clearest examples yet of regulated stablecoin infrastructure entering traditional payments.
SoFi Technologies and Mastercard announced on September 22 that stablecoin settlement is now live across SoFi Bank’s debit and credit card program, following a partnership first disclosed in March.
The bank is migrating its entire card program, representing more than $25 billion in expected annualized volume, to settlement using SoFiUSD. Transactions are already being processed onchain.
SoFiUSD Moves Into Card Settlement
SoFiUSD is issued by SoFi Bank, N.A., an OCC-regulated nationally chartered bank. The stablecoin is redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars and backed by reserves consisting primarily of cash.
The asset operates on the Ethereum and Solana networks and is available both to institutional users and SoFi members for payments, settlement and other financial applications.
The new Mastercard integration allows SoFiUSD to function as part of the settlement infrastructure behind card transactions rather than requiring consumers or merchants to interact directly with the stablecoin.
According to SoFi CEO Anthony Noto, merchants can continue using their existing payment systems without holding crypto assets or deploying additional infrastructure.
“Merchants do not need to hold stablecoins, build new infrastructure or change how they operate,” Noto said.
Through SoFi’s Big Business Banking platform, merchants can receive settlement funds directly into a SoFi Bank account and convert them into cash around the clock at no cost, the company said.
Noto described the launch as the result of moving from concept to production within six months, combining faster settlement with conventional banking safeguards.
Mastercard Expands Regulated Stablecoin Infrastructure
For Mastercard, the SoFi integration forms part of a broader strategy to incorporate regulated stablecoins into its global payments network.
The company has been expanding support across banks, fintech firms and stablecoin issuers, with infrastructure spanning Arbitrum, Base, Canton, Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Tempo and the XRP Ledger.
Mastercard also broadened its stablecoin settlement plans in June to include assets such as USDC, PYUSD and RLUSD, with support designed to enable intraday, weekend and holiday settlement for issuers and acquirers.
Sherri Haymond, Mastercard’s global head of digital commercialization, said the SoFi launch represents a shift from experimentation toward practical deployment.
“With SoFi, we’re moving beyond exploration to implementation, bringing regulated stablecoin settlement into a live production environment while preserving the trust, scale and safeguards expected from Mastercard,” Haymond said.
The companies also plan to explore additional uses for SoFiUSD across Mastercard’s network, including cross-border payments, remittances and other money movement applications.
SoFi Targets Large Merchants
SoFi said it is already holding discussions with large U.S. merchants about adopting stablecoin settlement arrangements.
Potential participants range from multinational retailers to technology service platforms, suggesting the bank is positioning SoFiUSD not only as an internal settlement tool but also as infrastructure for commercial payments.
The development follows another recent expansion of SoFi’s institutional settlement network.
Earlier in September, Payward agreed to join the SoFi Exchange Network (SEN), enabling institutional clients to settle U.S. dollar transactions around the clock. The agreement also integrates Kraken Prime as a liquidity source for SoFi and makes SoFiUSD available through Kraken.
SoFi currently reports 15.8 million members across its digital financial services platform.
Stablecoins Move Deeper Into Traditional Finance
The importance of the Mastercard rollout lies less in the stablecoin itself than in where it is being used.
Stablecoins have traditionally been associated with crypto exchanges, trading, DeFi and direct onchain payments. The SoFi integration instead places a regulated bank-issued stablecoin inside the settlement layer of a major card payments network.
Merchants do not need wallets, crypto balances or redesigned payment systems to participate. From their perspective, the underlying settlement technology can remain largely invisible.
That distinction could prove important for broader adoption. Rather than requiring traditional businesses to adopt crypto infrastructure directly, stablecoins can increasingly operate behind familiar banking and payment products.
With a card program measured in tens of billions of dollars, SoFi’s rollout provides a concrete test of whether bank-issued stablecoins can function at meaningful scale alongside existing financial infrastructure — not as a replacement for card networks and banks, but as another settlement rail within them.
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