Mastercard is exploring how to settle card flows in Ripple USD (RLUSD) across its network, linking XRP (XRP) Ledger-backed stablecoin rails to one of the world's largest payment systems.

Mastercard RLUSD Rollout

Christian Rau, Mastercard's senior vice president for digital assets and blockchain, detailed the plan in an interview shared Apr. 16 by XRPL Commons' Odelia Torteman.

Rau said the firm is working with Gemini on an RLUSD settlement use case.

He expects the feature to go live in the first half of the year. Rau framed the effort as part of Mastercard's push to fold stablecoins into existing rails rather than run a parallel system.

"The XRP example is we work with Gemini," he said. "We explore with them to settle their card flows in RLUSD."

Also Read: Charles Schwab Spot Bitcoin And Ethereum Trading Goes Live In Q2 With Paxos Custody

Rau Stablecoin Outlook

Rau argued stablecoins have entered the mainstream of financial services and can speed cross-border flows. He pointed to Mastercard's roughly 150 million acceptance locations and 3.8 billion cards as the core advantage behind the integration approach.

"Think about stablecoins just another settlement currency within our network," Rau said, adding that they offer benefits fiat currencies cannot match today.

Ripple launched RLUSD in December 2024, and the stablecoin has since been onboarded by exchanges, custodians and payment firms seeking XRP Ledger settlement.

Read Next: Why Is America's Next Fed Chair Being Forced To Sell All His Crypto Before Tuesday