SoFi Bank said on September 22, 2026, that it has begun settling its entire $25 billion debit and credit card program through Mastercard 's global payments network using SoFiUSD, the dollar-backed stablecoin it issues itself. SoFi describes the move as the first time a US national bank has settled a full card portfolio in stablecoin rather than through conventional interbank rails.
A card program settled entirely in stablecoin
SoFiUSD is issued by SoFi Bank, N.A., a nationally chartered bank regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The token is redeemable 1:1 for US dollars and backed by reserves consisting primarily of cash. Under the new arrangement, transactions run on SoFi's debit and credit cards settle in SoFiUSD on a public, permissionless blockchain instead of moving through the multi-day interbank settlement cycle that underlies most card programs.
How merchants get paid
The practical change is on the merchant side. Through SoFi's Big Business Banking platform, a merchant can receive settlement funds in a SoFi Bank account and withdraw them to cash around the clock, seven days a week, at no cost. That replaces a settlement window that, on conventional card rails, typically closes overnight and on weekends and holidays.
From a wallet feature to network-wide settlement
SoFiUSD is not new. SoFi Bank first issued it in December 2025 as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, then extended it to Solana on April 2, 2026, which has since become its main network. On May 27, 2026, SoFi made the token available directly inside its consumer app, giving millions of members a way to hold and move it. The partnership with Mastercard, announced in March 2026, set out to extend that infrastructure from a wallet feature to the settlement layer behind SoFi's own card program, which is what went live on September 22.
Why settlement, not just payments
Card settlement, the movement of funds between issuing and acquiring banks after a transaction has already been authorized, normally runs on a batch cycle that can take one to two business days and pauses over weekends. Stablecoin settlement collapses that cycle to whenever a blockchain confirms a transfer, typically seconds, at any hour. SoFi's move lands as US banks reassess stablecoins under the GENIUS Act, the 2025 federal law that created a licensing path for bank-issued dollar stablecoins and that several large banks have cited when building their own settlement plans.
What comes next
SoFi and Mastercard both describe the card rollout as an initial step. The companies are looking at extending SoFiUSD settlement on Mastercard's network to cross-border payments and remittances, and SoFi says it is in discussions with large US merchants, including multinational retailers and technology platforms, about settling directly in the stablecoin. Mastercard frames the deal as part of a broader push: the company says it is supporting stablecoin settlement across its network through what it calls a growing ecosystem of banks, fintechs and stablecoin issuers.
For now, the live deployment covers SoFi's own card portfolio rather than a wider set of merchants or banks. Whether stablecoin settlement spreads beyond SoFi on Mastercard's network will depend on how quickly other issuers can clear the same regulatory and reserve requirements SoFi's national bank charter already satisfies.