Mastercard partnered with an Australian stablecoin platform called Stables in an effort to facilitate stablecoin transactions for retail consumers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) area. Because of this collaboration, Mastercard will soon introduce a stablecoin wallet that will make the service possible.

The USD Coin Ustablecoin may be converted into fiat and settled on the Mastercard network, making the payment card useful for both saving and spending. A mobile wallet app called Stables will provide users with access to the card.

At the time of their release, Stables will only accept the Australian dollar for both deposits and withdrawals. Eventually, currencies from Africa, South America, and Asia will be incorporated into the system as well.

The integration of Mastercard-enabled wallets would be available to consumers in the second quarter of 2023. Australian residents will be the first to have access to the stablecoin digital Mastercard, with expansion across Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the rest of Asia Pacific in the works.

The payment system utilizes Stables' own settlement engine, which settles all transactions in USDC through direct interaction with Mastercard. Concurrently, the wallet will allow deposits in a variety of stablecoins, including Tether USDT, a competitor in the market. All deposits, however, will be converted to USDC without any further fees at no extra cost to you.

There has been a general consensus that stablecoins are the most secure way to introduce people to cryptocurrency. Concerns have been raised, however, after a small number of recent stablecoin failures.  The partnership is meant to restore faith in stablecoins, which has been eroding over the past few months. Mastercard is still trying to expand its presence in the APAC area.