Ingenico and WalletConnect Launch Stablecoin Payments Partnership

The collaboration is designed to allow merchants to accept stablecoin payments directly at checkout, according to a Tuesday (Jan. 13) press release.

“Stablecoins have become an important payment instrument for moving value quickly and efficiently,” WalletConnect CEO Jess Houlgrave said in the release. “By working with Ingenico, we’re extending stablecoin payments into real-world retail environments in a way that is practical, familiar and easy for both merchants and consumers around the world.”

The integration lets customers pay with supported stablecoins at millions of Ingenico point-of-sale terminals, which are found at a variety of businesses, including retail, hospitality, transportation, fuel, parking, vending and self-service establishments, per the release.

WalletConnect Pay “enables native stablecoin transactions” with no reliance on traditional card networks, the release said. Instead, consumers pay directly from the mobile wallet they already use, and money moves directly to the merchant’s payment provider.

“Ingenico’s role is to ensure merchants can accept the payment methods their customers prefer, in a way that is secure, compliant and seamless,” Ingenico CEO Floris de Kort said in the release. “We’re seeing a growing interest in stablecoin payments, and our partnership with WalletConnect Pay addresses this by giving our customers a way to accept digital currencies as easily as traditional cards. This means no extra hardware, no need to hold balances in digital currencies, and most importantly, no friction.”

Integration will be available to acquirers and payment service providers this month, according to the release.

In related news, Polygon Labs announced Tuesday a pair of acquisitions aimed at bolstering its stablecoin payments business. The company is buying cryptocurrency exchange Coinme and crypto wallet infrastructure provider Sequence for more than $250 million.

The acquisition is designed to deliver three chief components of the Polygon Open Money Stack, “including physical cash and digital fiat on- and off-ramps, wallet infrastructure, and cross-chain orchestration through intents,” the company said in a news release.

“Stablecoins are increasingly being used as a settlement layer for global payments, but the infrastructure around them remains fragmented,” Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron said in the release. “These acquisitions give us regulated access to U.S. payment rails, wallet infrastructure and cross-chain intents capabilities to build an open payments business on top of on-chain settlement.”