Mastercard (MA:NYE), one of the world’s leading payments providers, has partnered with Australian stablecoin platform Stables to offer customers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region the ability to use their stablecoins anywhere Mastercard is accepted. The two companies are launching a Stables virtual prepaid card that will allow users to spend their stablecoin balance on their daily purchases.
Currently, crypto users have to transfer their stablecoins from their wallet to an exchange to convert them to fiat, which can take several days. The new prepaid payment card will enable users to save and spend in the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin by converting the digital currency into fiat and settling the transaction on Mastercard’s network. Deposits in various stablecoins will be automatically converted into USDC at no cost.
The Stables virtual prepaid card will be available to users in Australia in the second quarter of 2023, with plans to roll out to Europe, the U.S., the U.K., and most of the Asia Pacific. Stables believes that the card will give greater autonomy to users and unlock the true worth of stablecoins by allowing them to spend them like cash on everyday purchases. Additionally, the card will enable both banked and unbanked users to preserve their value from inflation in their local currency.
Kallan Hogan, Vice President of Business Development and Head of Fintech, Australasia, at Mastercard, praised Stables’ solution for the Web3 sector and highlighted the importance of trust and security in their partnership, leveraging Mastercard’s global network and cyber and intelligence tools, including CipherTrace and Ekata.
Mastercard’s continued innovation in digital payments and its presence in the crypto space have earned it a Strong Buy consensus rating on Wall Street, based on 21 Buys and two Holds. The average Mastercard stock price target of $411.05 suggests 21.1% upside potential.
