2 months ago
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Pine Labs volition motorboat a stablecoin-backed prepaid paper crossed 9 countries successful the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia by the extremity of April, the fintech firm's main enforcement told Reuters, marking the archetypal effort by an Indian payments large to pat the fast-growing market.
The Temasek and Peak XV-backed institution aims to motorboat successful countries that person a "stablecoin-friendly stance", Amrish Rau said successful an interrogation connected Friday (February 27, 2026), without specifying which countries they would launch in.
Pine Labs does not program to motorboat the merchandise in India oregon China, Mr. Rau said.
The prepaid card, funded with stablecoins from consumers' integer wallets, volition alteration payments successful section currencies done real-time conversion astatine the constituent of sale, the CEO said.
Global outgo firms Stripe, PayPal and Klarna are already utilizing stablecoins to facilitate cross-border payments arsenic the instruments gain wider acceptance successful emerging markets, topping $310 cardinal successful marketplace value, led by U.S. dollar-pegged tokens Tether and USDC.
“Cross-border payments perchance are getting replaced contiguous by stablecoins... these are precise existent trends which are taking disconnected globally and we are perfectly gathering for it,” Pine Labs' Mr. Rau said.
The firm's program to motorboat the stablecoin-backed prepaid card, the archetypal specified inaugural by a listed Indian firm, has not been reported previously.
While India does not prohibit stablecoins, the section cardinal slope has cautioned the instruments could weaken monetary argumentation absorption and beforehand amerciable payments. Indian banks and payments firms specified arsenic Walmart-backed PhonePe and Paytm bash not connection stablecoin-backed payments.
China past period banned unauthorised offshore issuance of yuan-pegged stablecoins and is cracking down connected virtual currencies.
Tech-focused approach
Headquartered successful India's nationalist superior region, Pine Labs offers outgo solutions including point-of-sale machines to merchants for paper payments.
The fintech firm's shares person fallen astir 28% since their trading debut successful November amid increased contention successful the integer payments sector, according to analysts.
Pine Labs has been expanding its footprint with clients successful astir 20 countries, with the overseas concern adding up to astir 17% of its revenue, Mr. Rau said. The firm's gross gross roseate 24% connected twelvemonth to ₹7.44 cardinal ($81.4 million) in the December quarter.
The steadfast seeks to absorption connected AI-based payments, cross-border enlargement and stablecoin experiments, Mr. Rau said.
“All tech companies are into stablecoins, they are into AI, they are into cross-border. That’s the mode to go... If you don’t seizure that opportunity, Indian fintechs are going to get near behind.”
