Stablecoin platform Circle is working with Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank, Société Générale and Santander to build a cross-border payment network to rival Swift.
The Circle Payments Network (CPN) aims to connect financial institutions - banks, neo-banks, payment service providers, virtual asset service providers and digital wallets - and enable real-time settlement of cross-border payments using regulated stablecoins.
Despite improvements, cross-border payments can still take longer than one business day to settle and cost more than 6%, according to the World Bank. Delays are driven by multiple intermediaries, compliance checks, local market cut-off times, and fragmented operating hours across jurisdictions.
Powered by smart contract infrastructure and modular APIs and leveraging USDC, EURC, and other regulated stablecoins, CPN is being built to enable seamless 24/7 connectivity to domestic real-time payment systems worldwide.
CPN is governed by a framework that requires participants to meet strict eligibility standards, including licensing, AML/CFT compliance, financial risk management, and cybersecurity protocols.
Use cases cited include supplier payments, remittances, payroll, capital markets settlement, internal treasury operations, and onchain financial applications.
“Standard Chartered is continuously looking for opportunities to make cross-border payments more efficient, secure, and compliant to various regulatory requirements, globally,” said Michael Spiegel, global head of transaction banking at Standard Chartered Bank. “Circle’s compliance-first approach to building products like CPN is a game changer for how money moves across borders, and we are pleased to build on our partnership and offer them our global expertise to support the success of CPN.”
Alongside its banking partners, Circle is working with digital asset infrastructure platforms like Fireblocks to connect their networks of institutional customers to expand access to cross-border payments.
“Circle Payments Network is a foundational layer for the always-on economy — enabling trusted institutions to move value across borders, instantly,” says Nikhil Chandhok, chief product and technology officer at Circle. “With programmable infrastructure at its core, CPN makes it possible to embed value transfer into modern financial applications in ways that weren’t feasible before.”
Circle Payments Network is expected to be released in a limited capacity in May.