San Francisco, March 4, 2026, 13:00 PST
- SoFi plans to partner with Mastercard, bringing its SoFiUSD stablecoin to settle payments directly on the card network.
- Regulatory filings reveal CEO Anthony Noto picked up 56,000 shares in the open market.
- SOFI edged up roughly 0.8% Wednesday; Mastercard gave up a fraction.
SoFi Technologies, Inc. (SOFI) on Tuesday announced a broader partnership with Mastercard (MA), allowing its U.S. dollar-linked stablecoin, SoFiUSD, to settle payments across Mastercard’s worldwide network. The company added that its bank arm plans to use SoFiUSD to settle both credit and debit card transactions that run on Mastercard rails.
Timing is crucial here: settlement—the actual shifting of funds between banks after a card gets swiped—often drags on and racks up costs, more so with cross-border transactions. Enter stablecoins, those crypto tokens pegged to the U.S. dollar, which are touted for enabling money transfers 24/7, sidestepping the usual bank cutoff windows.
Card giants like Mastercard and Visa have been testing out blockchain-powered payment rails, searching for speedier value transfers. SoFi, meanwhile, is approaching the problem from within: the company is tapping both its chartered bank and its own payments tech unit to bring the idea to life.
The agreement has the companies teaming up to see how Mastercard could use SoFiUSD for settling card payments between issuers and acquirers — the banks that handle each side of a transaction. They mentioned possible applications like cross-border remittances and business-to-business payments. SoFiUSD is set to be available on Mastercard’s Multi-Token Network, a platform built to bridge traditional fiat with stablecoins and tokenized deposits, according to the statement.
“SoFiUSD is at the heart of our strategy,” SoFi CEO Anthony Noto said. Mastercard’s Sherri Haymond, who leads global digital commercialization, added, “we’re expanding how trusted digital currencies can be used at global scale.” Both companies referenced industry figures showing stablecoin transactions running about $30 billion daily. Mastercard
SoFi gained roughly 0.8% to $18.75 on Wednesday, putting its market value near $31.6 billion. Mastercard slipped about 0.1%.
Noto picked up 56,000 shares on March 2, plunking down roughly $1 million at an average price of $17.8842, a regulatory filing shows. The form details trades ranging from $17.50 up to $18.205, leaving him directly holding 11,675,452 shares.
SoFi says SoFiUSD comes straight from SoFi Bank, N.A., calling it an insured depository institution regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and insisting the token is backed one-to-one with cash for instant redemption. The company counts 13.7 million members on its books, and its Galileo platform now handles 128 million accounts worldwide.
Still, settling with stablecoins hasn’t become routine—the idea’s mostly on paper for now. Regulations around stablecoins remain in flux, and everything depends on whether banks and merchants actually decide to run settlement over a token. Mastercard’s network policies, plus local rules, could also restrict SoFiUSD’s reach.
The companies kept financial details and launch timing under wraps. In statements, each described the project as a push to enable interoperability between stablecoins, fiat, and tokenized bank deposits.
