Japan’s JCB Partners With Circle to Pursue Stablecoin Payments

JCB, Japan’s largest card network, is partnering with Circle to pursue a stablecoin-based payment system.

JCB and Circle signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly explore stablecoin payment use cases, CoinDesk reported on July 14. JCB, which has 140 million members and 40 million merchant locations worldwide, plans to examine how stablecoins could be used for payment services for international visitors and for cross-border fund transfers.

The initial phase of the partnership will focus on a proof of concept for internal fund transfers within JCB. The companies then plan to expand the scope of the collaboration to include USDC, the world’s second-largest stablecoin with a market capitalization of about $73 billion, to cut remittance costs, improve payment efficiency and support cross-border payments.

In a joint statement, the companies said stablecoins are drawing global attention as a foundation for building a new ecosystem in cashless societies because of their convenience. The companies added that the technology could ease foreign tourists’ currency exchange burden, improve settlement efficiency and strengthen merchants’ cash flow.

The partnership comes as stablecoin adoption gathers pace in Japan. Circle has already said it plans to launch a USDC-based foreign-exchange settlement service for Japanese companies as early as 2027 with Nomura. Lawson, a major Japanese convenience store chain, is also scheduled to begin a pilot payment service in August at its Tokyo Takanawa Gateway City store using the yen-pegged stablecoin JPYC with telecom carrier KDDI and digital-asset wallet provider HashPort.