Banks, Card Networks & Regulation Push Stablecoins Further Into Mainstream Payments
September 2026 marked another important step in the development of stablecoins as payment infrastructure.
Rather than being defined by a single market event, the month brought developments across banking, card settlement, cross-border payments and regulation. Major financial institutions moved from exploring stablecoin use cases to testing or deploying them within existing payment operations, while regulators in the United States, Europe and Asia continued developing the frameworks that will determine how these systems can operate at scale.
The direction is becoming clearer: the stablecoin conversation is increasingly about how digital money connects with existing financial infrastructure.
Regulatory Spotlight: GENIUS Act Implementation Advances as EBA Recommends MiCA Reforms
September brought significant regulatory developments on both sides of the Atlantic.
U.S. Federal Reserve Moves Forward With GENIUS Act Implementation
On September 24, the Federal Reserve requested public comment on two proposals establishing a regulatory framework for payment stablecoin issuers under its supervision.
The first proposal addresses areas including eligible reserve assets, capital requirements, risk-management standards and custody of assets backing payment stablecoins. It would require supervised issuers to fully back their stablecoins with permissible reserve assets such as short-term U.S. Treasury bills and other qualifying liquid assets.
A second proposal would establish an application process for supervised banks seeking approval to issue payment stablecoins.
The proposals represent another step in translating the GENIUS Act from legislation into an operational regulatory framework for stablecoin issuance and banking participation.
Europe Reviews the Next Stage of MiCA
European regulators are also examining how the existing framework should evolve.
On September 24, the European Banking Authority identified several priorities for the review of MiCA, including risks associated with multi-issuer stablecoin arrangements, clarification of crypto-asset classifications and the relationship between MiCA and other European financial-services legislation.
As of September 1, the EBA reported that 39 electronic money tokens had been issued under MiCA, while no asset-referenced tokens had been authorised.
The discussion illustrates how European stablecoin regulation is moving from initial implementation toward refinement as new issuance structures and payment models develop.
September 2026 Stablecoin Highlights
1. Stablecoin Payments Reach at Least $401 Billion Through August 2026
Allium’s September report estimated identified stablecoin payments at $401 billion to $527 billion during January–August 2026, up 42% to 63% compared with the same period in 2025.
The research estimated total stablecoin supply at approximately $303 billion in August, while Tether and Circle together accounted for around 85% of supply.
More importantly for payments, businesses were estimated to receive between 58% and 64% of identified stablecoin payment volume. B2B settlement represented the largest individual payment category, reaching approximately $137 billion to $153 billion.
Corporate activity was also significant across service fees, payroll and supplier payments.
The figures reinforce an important distinction in the stablecoin market: supply growth alone does not explain adoption. Increasingly, the more relevant question is how stablecoins are actually being used within payment workflows.
2. SoFi Goes Live With Stablecoin Settlement
On September 22, SoFi and Mastercard announced that stablecoin settlement had gone live across SoFi Bank’s debit and credit card program.
SoFi is migrating the program to blockchain-based settlement using SoFiUSD, its bank-issued stablecoin. The card program is expected to process more than $25 billion in annualized volume.
The development is significant because stablecoins are being introduced behind an existing card experience rather than requiring consumers to adopt an entirely new payment method.
For payment providers, the model could change settlement and liquidity management while preserving familiar card interfaces.
3. Visa and Lloyds Complete Live Cross-Border Stablecoin Settlement Pilot
On September 30, Visa and Lloyds Banking Group announced the completion of a seven-day live pilot testing stablecoins for cross-border settlement.
During the pilot, Lloyds used stablecoins to settle US$750,000 in payment obligations with Visa, with funds reaching Visa in under an hour, including during the weekend.
The trial also tested settlement across both private and public blockchain environments.
The pilot tested settlement outside conventional banking hours and cut-off times. Its limited scale does not yet demonstrate broader production readiness.
For institutions managing international liquidity, the ability to settle obligations around the clock could eventually change how treasury teams approach funding, reconciliation and cross-border liquidity management.
4. Twenty-One Financial Institutions Back a New Global Stablecoin Initiative
September also demonstrated that traditional financial institutions are becoming more directly involved in stablecoin issuance.
On September 1, 21 international financial institutions announced plans to establish a company in the second half of 2026, subject to closing conditions, to support a global stablecoin solution.
Participants include institutions from North America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The initiative will initially focus on a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin, with a longer-term ambition to expand into other G7 currencies, including the euro.
The group intends the solution to support use cases across wholesale, institutional and retail markets, including cross-border payments and digital-asset settlement.
The planned stablecoin is expected to target compliance with the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU’s MiCA framework where applicable, with a targeted market launch in the first half of 2027.
The initiative suggests that the next stage of stablecoin competition may involve not only fintech and crypto-native issuers, but also consortium-based models backed by established financial institutions.
5. Circle Expands Cross-Border Infrastructure Through Tazapay
On September 8, Circle announced an agreement to acquire Singapore-based cross-border payments infrastructure company Tazapay.
The proposed transaction would bring more than 60 banking and fintech partners and access to over 100 payout markets into Circle’s broader ecosystem. The acquisition is expected to close in 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
The strategic importance extends beyond increasing USDC distribution.
Stablecoins may provide an efficient digital settlement asset, but international payments still require connections to local banking systems, payout methods, compliance infrastructure and fiat liquidity.
By combining stablecoin infrastructure with local payment connectivity, providers are increasingly addressing both sides of the transaction: moving value on-chain and delivering that value into the financial systems businesses and recipients already use.
6. Citi and Coinbase Connect Stablecoin Payments With Traditional Banking
On September 28, Citi and Coinbase announced an expanded collaboration designed to connect fiat banking services with digital-asset payment infrastructure.
Under the collaboration, Coinbase selected Citi Services’ Virtual Account Wallet to support Coinbase Virtual Accounts with automated fiat-to-stablecoin conversion.
At the same time, Spring by Citi is expected to enable institutional clients to accept stablecoin payments at checkout using Coinbase Payments, with conversion into fiat and settlement through Citi.
This addresses one of the practical challenges surrounding stablecoin adoption: businesses may want access to blockchain-based payment rails without restructuring their treasury operations around digital assets.
Infrastructure that connects stablecoin acceptance with automated conversion and conventional bank settlement could make the technology easier to integrate into existing corporate payment workflows.
7. Circle Launches Arc Mainnet for Institutional Financial Activity
Infrastructure development also continued at the blockchain layer.
On September 16, Circle launched the public mainnet of Arc, a Layer 1 blockchain designed specifically for financial markets, real-time money movement and other institutional economic activity.
The network launched with more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders and more than 100 applications, alongside integration with Circle’s broader infrastructure and USDC.
The launch reflects a wider shift in blockchain infrastructure.
Instead of expecting financial institutions to adapt general-purpose networks to complex payment and settlement requirements, new networks are increasingly being designed around financial use cases from the beginning.
As stablecoins become integrated into treasury, settlement and commercial payment systems, factors such as transaction predictability, compliance, interoperability and institutional connectivity are likely to become as important as transaction speed alone.
September 2026 Key Takeaways
Stablecoins are moving deeper into existing financial infrastructure.
The SoFi and Mastercard rollout, together with the Visa and Lloyds pilot, demonstrates how stablecoins can increasingly operate behind established card and banking products rather than functioning as separate payment ecosystems.
Banks are becoming active participants rather than observers.
From the 21-institution stablecoin initiative to Citi’s expanded collaboration with Coinbase, established financial institutions are developing ways to issue, settle, accept or connect stablecoins with conventional banking infrastructure.
Regulation and infrastructure are developing together.
The Federal Reserve’s GENIUS Act proposals and the EBA’s MiCA review show that stablecoin regulation is increasingly focused on the operational details required for larger-scale adoption: reserves, capital, custody, supervision and cross-border issuance models.
Watchlist – October 2026
GENIUS Act Public Consultation: The U.S. Treasury’s consultation on proposed rules governing payment stablecoin issuance, offer and sale is scheduled to close on October 19, 2026. Industry responses could provide an early indication of how banks, issuers and digital-asset service providers view the practical requirements of the new U.S. framework.
Singapore’s Stablecoin Framework: The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s consultation on amendments implementing its stablecoin regulatory framework closes on October 16. The proposals cover areas including reserve requirements, redemption, multi-jurisdictional issuance and recognition of certain foreign-issued stablecoins.
Institutional Settlement Expansion: Following September’s live pilots and deployments, attention will increasingly turn to whether stablecoin settlement progresses from individual programs toward broader production use across card networks, banking infrastructure and corporate treasury.
Final Thought
September 2026 showed that the stablecoin market is increasingly being shaped by what happens behind the payment itself.
Live deployments, pilots and announced plans point toward closer integration with banking and card networks, while regulatory proposals remain under consultation.
This does not mean stablecoins are replacing traditional payment infrastructure overnight.
Integration is gradual: stablecoins are becoming an additional settlement layer for existing payment systems.
The next test is whether institutions can turn these initiatives into reliable, compliant services at scale.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal or regulatory advice. Information reflects developments available at the time of publication.
