Circle is accelerating the global adoption of its USD Coin (USDC) with two new partnerships that bring stablecoins directly into mainstream finance. On Wednesday, Circle announced collaborations with Mastercard and Finastra, aiming to make USDC a standard tool for merchants, banks, and payment providers worldwide.

Mastercard revealed it will enable acquirers and merchants across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to settle payments in USDC and Euro Coin. The rollout will begin with Arab Financial Services and Eazy Financial Services, marking the first time Mastercard supports stablecoin settlement in the region. This move signals a major step toward blending traditional finance with blockchain-powered payments.

Meanwhile, London-based fintech giant Finastra confirmed that it has integrated USDC into its Global PAYplus platform, which processes more than $5 trillion in cross-border payments daily. With this integration, banks in 50 countries will be able to settle international transactions in USDC, even when instructions remain denominated in local currencies.

The partnerships build on Circle’s aggressive expansion strategy following the passage of the GENIUS Act in the U.S., which introduced the first federal framework for stablecoins. Since then, Circle has secured key alliances to push USDC adoption across global markets. In July, it teamed up with exchange giant OKX to offer zero-fee USDC-to-USD conversions, boosting liquidity across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

In August, Circle executives engaged with South Korea’s top banks to explore onchain integrations and discussed launching a won-backed stablecoin. In Japan, Circle joined forces with SBI Group, Ripple, and Startale in a joint venture to advance USDC adoption and develop tokenized asset platforms.

With these moves, Circle is positioning USDC as a backbone of the future global payments system.