Mastercard Expands XRP Ledger for Intraday Settlements

On June 3, Mastercard announced that it is extending its support for its settlement capabilities by including stablecoins along with additional intraday, weekend and holiday card settlement.

Details from Mastercard’s Official Announcement

Mastercard has shared an official press release, in which the company unveiled major improvements for companies that issue cards and those that accept card payments. According to the press release, the leading payment network will add new settlement options that process same-day, weekend, and holiday transactions.

These options will provide support for both traditional fiat currencies and settlements that happen directly on blockchains using regulated stablecoins.

Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president, Blockchain & Digital Assets at Mastercard, stated in the press release, “The next phase of stablecoin adoption is about real-world utility, especially in settlement, where timing and liquidity matter most. By introducing intraday and weekend on settlement options across our global network, we’re expanding how partners manage liquidity and operate in an always-on digital economy while maintaining the trust, resilience and safeguards they expect from Mastercard.”

Jack McDonald, senior vice president, Stablecoins, Ripple, said that, “Mastercard’s move into on-chain settlement is a landmark validation that blockchain technology is ready for the world’s most critical payment infrastructure. RLUSD’s inclusion in Mastercard’s global settlement network reflects growing demand for trusted, regulated stablecoins built for real-world financial use cases on public blockchains like the XRP Ledger. We’re excited to support the next evolution of faster, more flexible, always-on settlement.”

The new options are designed to support traditional fiat currencies and settlements that happen directly on blockchains using regulated stablecoins.

This initiative will help Mastercard’s partners to manage their money in more effective ways by giving them more options to settle their transactions. During this, it will not affect existing processes. The new options are created for various use cases, including cross-border payments, treasury operations, and payouts.

According to the official announcement, the company will integrate support for popular regulated stablecoins, such as Circle’s USDC, Paxos-issued PYUSD, USDG, USDP, Ripple’s RLUSD, and SoFiUSD.

The platform will leverage various blockchains to boost stablecoin operations, including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, Canton, Tempo, and XRP Ledger.