SoFi has started clearing credit and debit card payments using the SoFiUSD stablecoin across Mastercard’s international payment infrastructure, as the financial institution transitions its entire card system to blockchain settlement.
This initiative is projected to handle upwards of $25 billion in yearly volume, based on a press release provided to The Block on Tuesday. SoFi noted that it stands as the initial banking institution to implement live stablecoin settlement on Mastercard’s platform.
This rollout follows a March partnership between the two entities where SoFi intended to leverage SoFiUSD for clearing its own Mastercard transactions. Both companies also revealed intentions to extend this settlement alternative to other issuing banks via the Galileo technology infrastructure belonging to SoFi.
SoFiUSD was introduced last December and became accessible to SoFi banking application users in May.
SoFi Targets Merchant Settlement
Commercial vendors are not required to hold SoFiUSD or modify their current payment setups to utilize this offering, as explained by SoFi Chief Executive Officer Anthony Noto. Via the organization’s Big Business Banking infrastructure, merchants are able to obtain immediate settlement funds inside a SoFi Bank account and cash them out 24/7 without incurring any fees. Noto remarked, “In six months, SoFi and Mastercard transformed stablecoin clearing from a concept into an operational service that substantially enhances how commerce flows for enterprises.”
Sherri Haymond, Mastercard’s Global Head of Digital Commercialization, further remarked, “Stablecoins gain true significance when they resolve practical obstacles that companies encounter daily. Alongside SoFi, we are transitioning past mere research into practical execution, integrating regulated stablecoin clearing into a live operational environment while maintaining the reliability, scale, and protections anticipated from Mastercard. This marks an additional milestone toward providing organizations with greater flexibility in how financial value is transferred.”
SoFiUSD is minted by SoFi Bank, which is a federally chartered institution regulated by the OCC. The stablecoin is exchangeable one-to-one for U.S. dollars and supported by reserves predominantly comprised of cash, according to the organization. SoFi mentioned it is actively holding conversations with major American merchants concerning stablecoin clearing arrangements, which encompass multinational retail brands and technology infrastructure platforms, though no specific names were disclosed.
SoFiUSD remains accessible on the Ethereum and Solana networks. Mastercard’s broader stablecoin clearing strategy spans eight distributed ledgers: Arbitrum, Base, Canton, Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Tempo, and the XRP Ledger.
Mastercard broadened those frameworks in June to incorporate USDC, PYUSD, RLUSD, and additional compliant stablecoins across multiple blockchains. The financial processing corporation indicated that this deployment would facilitate intraday, weekend, and holiday clearing operations for both card issuers and transaction acquirers.
SoFi and Mastercard stated that they are currently investigating additional applications for SoFiUSD on the network, such as cross-border financial transfers and remittance services.
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-09-22-sofi-begins-stablecoin-settlement-on-mastercard-network-for-program-expected-to-exceed-25-billion-in-annualized-volume-416035.
