Payments terminal provider Ingenico has partnered with WalletConnect Pay to enable in-store stablecoin payments across its point-of-sale (POS) systems, marking one of the clearest pushes yet to bring cryptocurrency payments into everyday retail checkout.
In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Ingenico said the integration allows customers to pay using stablecoins including USDC (USDC), EURC (EURC) and USDt (USDT) directly from their WalletConnect-compatible mobile wallets without relying on traditional card networks.
Supported wallets include MetaMask and Trust Wallet. Transactions are initiated at the terminal and are settled through WalletConnect Pay’s infrastructure.
Unlike crypto-linked cards that depend on Visa or Mastercard rails, the new setup enables native stablecoin transactions. Payments are sent directly from the user’s wallet, with settlements flowing to the merchant’s payment provider, positioning stablecoins as an alternative settlement rail rather than a card add-on.
Stablecoin payments without new hardware or custody
Ingenico’s POS terminals are deployed across 120 countries. The company said it has 40 million terminals around the world capable of supporting the feature, giving the integration immediate global reach.
Ingenico said the integration is designed to work within existing merchant payment stacks, requiring no additional hardware upgrades or changes at the checkout counter.
While Ingenico said millions of its terminals are capable of supporting the feature, the company did not provide actual figures on how many merchants will roll out stablecoin payments at launch.
The company said adoption will depend on whether individual merchants and their payment providers choose to enable it.
“Essentially any Ingenico merchant who wants to accept crypto can,” an Ingenico spokesperson told Cointelegraph, adding that availability depends on merchants and their payment providers enabling the option.
According to the spokesperson, merchants can also choose how they receive their funds. When a customer pays in USDC, EURC or USDT, the merchant can decide whether to settle in stablecoins or convert to fiat, based on their requirements and business preferences.
One of the common hurdles for crypto payments in physical retail involves refunds. According to the spokesperson, refunds are handled through standard merchant workflows.
“Merchants will have the ability to process refunds with a simple button click in the dashboard or via automated process,” the spokesperson told Cointelegraph. “WalletConnect Pay is designed to safeguard the user to always pay to the correct network and minimize the human errors.”
Fees and multi-chain support shape rollout
WalletConnect CEO Jess Houlgrave told Cointelegraph that the in-store integration is designed to offer lower costs than traditional card payments, particularly for cross-border transactions.
“Compared to traditional card rails, fees are much lower across the board,” Houlgrave told Cointelegraph, adding that pricing is structured to reflect underlying costs, which can vary depending on whether merchants choose to off-ramp into fiat.
Houlgrave said the fees are collaboratively agreed upon by WalletConnect Pay, Ingenico and payment service providers. She said the model is designed to reward ecosystem participants. Combined with faster settlement times, she claimed that the model can reduce working capital needs for merchants and improve overall economics.
At launch, WalletConnect Pay will support stablecoin payments across several major blockchains, including Ethereum mainnet, Base, Arbitrum and Polygon. She told Cointelegraph that support for Optimism and Solana is expected to follow shortly.
While the initial focus is on stablecoins, Houlgrave said WalletConnect Pay is already seeing demand for non-stable crypto payments. “Stablecoins are the starting point for everyday payments, but adding assets like Bitcoin or ETH is on our roadmap,” she told Cointelegraph.
Related: Ethereum needs better decentralized stablecoins: Vitalik Buterin
Addressing stablecoin payments demand
The move reflects the rapid growth of stablecoins and the rising demand to use them as a practical payment method.
Ingenico CEO Floris de Kort said the company has seen a growing interest in stablecoin payments. “Our partnership with WalletConnect Pay addresses this by giving our customers a way to accept digital currencies as easily as traditional cards,” he said.
Haseeb Qureshi, a managing partner at crypto-focused venture capital firm Dragonfly, said that stablecoin payments will be “one of the big themes of 2026,” adding that crypto will become more deeply integrated into payments this year.
On Friday, Visa-linked stablecoin platform Rain raised $250 million after 30-fold card growth in 2025. The round values Rain at almost $2 billion, bringing the company’s total funding to $338 million.
Magazine: China officially hates stablecoins, DBS trades Bitcoin options: Asia Express
