- SoFi Bank went live on September 22, transitioning its entire $25 billion card program to settle transactions on Mastercard’s network using its own stablecoin, SoFiUSD.
- While the underlying network mechanics leverage SoFiUSD, merchants never touch the stablecoin, receiving instant, 24/7, and free-to-withdraw traditional fiat dollars directly into a SoFi Bank account.
- The integration allows participating merchants to access instantaneous settlement funds and round-the-clock cash withdrawals at zero cost under the condition that funds land in SoFi.
SoFi Bank has officially gone live with a groundbreaking card settlement infrastructure utilizing its proprietary stablecoin, SoFiUSD, marking a major institutional leap into blockchain-powered financial rails. According to details emerging from the rollout, the fintech giant began settling card transactions on Mastercard’s network using SoFiUSD, initiating a phased migration of its entire $25 billion card program.
Despite the blockchain backbone facilitating the backend transfers, the merchant experience remains entirely denominated in traditional fiat currency. The store or merchant never actually touches SoFiUSD during the transaction lifecycle. Instead, the merchant receives standard dollars through an instant, 24/7, and free-to-withdraw mechanism, provided that the settlement funds land directly in a SoFi Bank account.
Industry observers note that this operational structure effectively bridges decentralized ledger technology with traditional merchant acquiring. By leveraging its own stablecoin for network settlement, SoFi aims to eliminate traditional multi-day settlement delays inherent in legacy card processing rails, bypassing standard banking holidays and clearinghouse bottlenecks.
While the institution has not yet disclosed the exact volume of funds settled thus far since the September 22 go-live date, the complete transition of a $25 billion portfolio represents one of the most substantial deployments of enterprise stablecoin settlement by a regulated U.S. financial institution to date. Market participants are closely watching to see whether other major card issuers will follow SoFi’s blueprint in adopting proprietary or public stablecoins to modernize back-end clearing and settlement infrastructure.
