Circle (NYSE: CRCL), a stablecoin issuer, and Finastra have announced a partnership that focuses on payment infrastructure to improve the speed and lower the cost of international transfers.
According to a release, Finastra’s Global PAYplus (GPP) customers can connect to Circle’s payment infrastructure for rapid, cost-effective settlement.
Banks will now have the option to settle in USDC, Circle’s dollar-based stablecoin, while continuing to manage payment instructions in fiat currency.
USDC is a regulated, fully reserved stablecoin providing near-instant settlement.
Finastra will connect its GPP customers, which process over $5 trillion in cross-border transactions daily, to Circle’s infrastructure, enabling settlement in USDC even when payment instructions on both sides are in fiat currency. This can reduce reliance on traditional correspondent banking processes, which are no longer necessary.
“This collaboration is about giving banks the tools they need to innovate in cross-border payments without having to build a standalone payment processing infrastructure,” said Chris Walters, CEO of Finastra.
Jeremy Allaire, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Circle, said Finastra is a natural choice for USDC expansion.
“Together, we’re enabling financial institutions to test and launch innovative payment models that combine blockchain technology with the scale and trust of the existing banking system.”