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Rain Partners With Mastercard to Issue Stablecoin-Backed Cards and Pilot On-Chain Settlement

The deal shifts the $1.95 billion startup to a dual-network strategy to win institutions tied to a single card brand.

Overview

  • Rain, in a Monday announcement, said it will issue credit and prepaid cards on Mastercard and test stablecoin settlement for institutional clients.
  • The partnership moves Rain beyond its Visa-only setup to a dual-network model meant for enterprises that cannot switch from their existing payment rails.
  • Rain’s platform lets clients such as neobanks back card purchases with customers’ stablecoin balances, so charges draw from crypto deposits instead of dollars.
  • Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to assets like the U.S. dollar, which helps keep values steady for everyday payments and back-end settlement.
  • Mastercard’s push includes a March agreement to acquire BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, and broader adoption has grown after U.S. stablecoin rules under the Genius Act and new payouts and checkout options from Meta, Shopify, Stripe, and Coinbase.