India’s Pine Labs will introduce a stablecoin-backed prepaid card in nine countries across the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia by the end of April, CEO Amrish Rau said. Reuters.

The move marks the first push by a major Indian payments company into consumer payments tied to stablecoins.

Rau said the Temasek and Peak XV-backed company is targeting markets with a “stablecoin-friendly stance”, without naming the jurisdictions.

The product will not be launched in India or China, according to the report.

The card will take funds from stablecoins in users’ digital wallets and convert them into local currencies in real time at the point of sale, Rau said.

Global payments players such as Stripe, PayPal and Klarna are already using stablecoins in cross-border transactions as the asset class grows in popularity in emerging markets.

The market value of stablecoins has surpassed $310 billion, led by Tether and USDC pegged to the US dollar, Reuters noted.

“Cross-border payments are potentially being replaced by stablecoins today … these are very real trends that are taking off globally and we’re absolutely building on them,” Rau said.

India has not banned stablecoins, but the central bank has warned that they could hamper monetary policy and allow illicit transfers.

Local payments companies, including Walmart-backed PhonePe and Paytm, do not offer services based on stablecoins.

China last month banned the unauthorized offshore issuance of yuan-pegged stablecoins and is tightening its stance on virtual currencies.

Pine Labs provides payment solutions to merchants, including point-of-sale terminals. The company now serves customers in about 20 countries, with international business contributing about 17 percent of revenue, Rau said.

Gross revenue rose 24% year-on-year to 7.44 billion rupees ($81.4 million) in the December quarter.

Rau said the company is focusing on AI-led payments, cross-border expansion and stablecoin projects.

“All tech companies are moving towards stablecoins, AI, cross-border. This is the way to go… If you don’t take advantage of this opportunity, Indian fintechs will be left behind,” he noted.

Recently, Pine Labs recently signed multi-year agreements with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) to modernize digital payment systems across their fuel retail networks in India.

The company will deploy, manage and maintain the payment acceptance infrastructure at gas stations and points of sale across the country.

In November, Pine Labs acquired Reserve Bank of India licenses to operate as a payment aggregator for offline, online and cross-border transactions, according to a report by The Economic Times.