Stablecoin cards win users on FX savings, not rewards: Wirex CEO

Wirex CEO Pavel Matveev has identified currency conversion savings of up to 2% as a stronger reason for using stablecoin cards than cashback, citing average purchases of about $95 and roughly 12 monthly transactions per active user.

Pavel Matveev, Wirex’s co-founder and CEO, told crypto.news that spending across more than 30 partner programs points to regular card use, with lower payment costs providing a reason to keep spending after rewards disappear.

In his account, about a fifth of the $1.2 billion spent through stablecoin cards in September ran through cards issued by Wirex. He described cashback as a small part of the company’s spending activity and said a substantial share of its volume involved currencies other than the U.S. dollar.

Stablecoin cards can cut repeated currency conversions

By settling in six fiat currencies alongside stablecoins, Wirex can help customers spending euros or pounds avoid two currency conversions, Matveev said. He contrasted that approach with cards built around dollar-only settlement, where a purchase in another currency can involve an additional conversion.

For a cross-border purchase, the resulting saving could reach 2%, according to the executive, who argued that lower conversion costs can exceed the benefit offered by cashback programs.

“Any issuer can switch cashback off tomorrow, whilst an FX saving is there every time you tap the card.”

With an average transaction of around $95 and active customers making roughly a dozen purchases each month, Matveev described Wirex-issued cards as an everyday payment option rather than a product used only for occasional large transfers.

To assess whether adoption lasts, he said issuers should examine spending after six months, including during weak market conditions. The distribution of volume also matters, he added: growth spread across customers would provide a different adoption signal from activity concentrated among a few large users.

During February’s market downturn, Wirex’s payment volume increased rather than declined, according to Matveev. He cited that performance as evidence that customers continued using stablecoins for payments despite falling crypto markets.

Separate figures published by Visa show that card activity includes business spending. In an Oct. 1 update, covered on Oct. 4, Visa reported nearly 200% growth in stablecoin-linked card payment volume from a year earlier across more than 160 programs.

According to Visa’s internal classifications, business and commercial programs generated approximately 17% of that volume during fiscal 2026 year-to-date. Its figures cover Visa’s network, while Matveev’s transaction size and spending frequency describe Wirex-issued cards.

Wirex retains issuing duties behind partner brands

Under Wirex’s model, a partner launches a card program through one integration and controls its branding and customer experience, Matveev said. Wirex remains the issuer, holding the issuing permissions and bank identification number, or BIN, while the partner retains obligations under its program agreement and applicable law.

Through its Visa and Mastercard principal memberships, Wirex can issue directly without an intermediary bank or BIN sponsor in most jurisdictions, according to the executive. Matveev said Wirex Limited is authorized by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority as an electronic money institution and uses banking partners in some other markets to expand coverage and manage risk.

Where Wirex issues cards, the company handles compliance and fraud controls, he said. Every cardholder must pass an identity check before receiving a card, while screening covers sanctions and politically exposed persons lists.

Alongside those checks, Wirex monitors transactions for potential fraud and financial crime, Matveev said. Customer protections and issuer liability follow applicable law, card network rules and cardholder terms, rather than a single arrangement applying everywhere.

For directly issued cards, Wirex receives interchange revenue, although Matveev described it as a relatively small revenue source in most jurisdictions.

Wirex has also expanded its settlement options. As reported on Sep. 11, the company added Tempo settlement for enterprise stablecoin card programs, pairing its issuance and compliance services with the payments blockchain’s settlement infrastructure.

According to the companies’ announcement, Tempo supplies the blockchain layer and helps participating businesses with product design and technical deployment.

Licensing barriers shape Stripe’s card expansion

For companies seeking to issue independently, Matveev identified Visa or Mastercard approval, local regulatory permissions and settlement arrangements as essential requirements. Obtaining them takes capital, regulatory scrutiny and years of relationship-building, he said, leading many stablecoin financial apps to use another company’s card infrastructure.

Against that backdrop, Matveev described Stripe’s expansion into stablecoin cards as validation of the issuing business. Visa and Stripe-owned Bridge announced in March that their cards were operating in 18 countries, with plans to reach more than 100 by the end of 2026.

In Matveev’s view, Stripe will need regional partners as it expands because issuing permissions are granted market by market. He expects companies to pursue direct issuance where transaction volume supports the expense.

Although Stripe has substantial funding and an established payments business, Matveev argued that specialized issuers still have room to compete. He characterized issuance as a smaller part of Stripe’s operations and said the market would accommodate multiple providers.

For U.S. businesses, stablecoin settlement is already operating through a nationally chartered bank. On Sep. 22, SoFi and Mastercard announced live SoFiUSD card settlement as SoFi began migrating a card program expected to process more than $25 billion in annualized volume.

According to their announcement, merchants can receive settlement funds in a SoFi Bank account without holding stablecoins or building blockchain infrastructure. SoFi said its dollar-redeemable token is issued by SoFi Bank, which the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency regulates.

Card resilience depends on custody and operating controls

Asked about concentration among issuing providers, Matveev said Wirex’s non-custodial model lets customers retain control of funds in their wallets. If an issuer fails, customers may lose card access while retaining other ways to access those wallet assets, he said.

For operational resilience, the executive pointed to liquidity, multiple licenses and banking relationships. He said Wirex encourages partners to build contingency arrangements into their programs.

A separate incident reported on Sep. 3 exposed risks involving funded card balances. According to Blockaid, an attacker exploited a Rain contract on Aug. 28, stealing approximately $1.1 million from stablecoin card programs on Solana.

Blockaid said the attack targeted collateral contracts holding deposited card funds rather than customers’ self-custodial wallets or private keys. Rain said it upgraded every program still using the affected contract version.