SAP testing cross-border payments using Circle’s USDC stablecoin

Quick Take

  • SAP is using Circle’s USDC stablecoin to test cross-border payments, aiming to solve challenges faced by businesses in sending money overseas.
  • The experiment is being conducted on an Ethereum test network.

German software giant SAP is testing Circle’s Ethereum-based USDC stablecoin for clients to tackle difficulties associated with existing cross-border payments.

The company aims to provide a solution to the "hassle” for businesses when sending money overseas by leveraging the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin and its less-adopted Euro-pegged equivalent EUROC, according to a blog post.

Today’s "cross-border payments are a hassle for many small and mid-sized enterprises with international business partners, expensive – up to $50 per transaction, slow – up to seven days to transmit the money, and non-transparent – you never know the status of the transaction,” said SAP product expert Sissi Ruthe in the post.

“These major challenges can get solved with digital money as a means of settlement and blockchain as the underlying technology,” Ruthe added.

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SAP customers can receive the cryptocurrency as "play money" in self-custody wallets — removing the need for intermediaries — to pay a sample invoice in a free test drive of the experiment to “experience how fast, affordable and reliable cross-border payments will look like.” However, the funds cannot be used in the real world as it runs on a test network rather than the main Ethereum blockchain and will not involve real tokens.

Circle is the second-largest stablecoin behind Tether’s USDT, with a market cap of $28.3 billion, according to CoinGecko.

Last week, Jeremy Allaire, CEO and co-founder of Circle, urged lawmakers to defend the U.S. Dollar’s primacy and pass stablecoin legislation.


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About Author

James Hunt is a reporter at The Block, based in the UK. As the writer behind The Daily newsletter, James also keeps you up to speed on the latest crypto news every weekday. Prior to joining The Block in 2022, James spent four years as a freelance writer in the industry, contributing to both publications and crypto project content. James’ coverage spans everything from Bitcoin and Ethereum to Layer 2 scaling solutions, avant-garde DeFi protocols, evolving DAO governance structures, trending NFTs and memecoins, regulatory landscapes, crypto company deals and the latest market updates. You can get in touch with James on Telegram or X via @humanjets or email him at [email protected].

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