SoFi Tech Solutions has joined forces with Mexico-based fintech company Orbi and Mastercard to roll out a crypto-linked card program that enables customers to pay for everyday purchases with their digital asset balances. The initiative is designed to connect cryptocurrency holdings with conventional payment infrastructure, allowing customers to use physical and virtual cards while merchants continue to receive payment in fiat currency.

Under the arrangement, Orbi customers will be able to fund purchases with either fiat currency or eligible cryptocurrency balances. When a customer opts to pay with digital assets, the system converts the funds into fiat at the point of sale, allowing transactions to flow through existing merchant payment systems without any change on the merchant side.

The partnership combines SoFi Tech Solutions' payment processing infrastructure, Orbi's digital dollar services and Mastercard's payment network, making cryptocurrency balances usable for everyday purchases without requiring merchants to accept digital assets directly.

SoFi Tech Solutions, formerly known as Galileo, will supply the technology and financial infrastructure required to operate the program. Its connection to Mastercard's Mexico Domestic Switch (MxDS) will support card transactions as well as cash withdrawals at automated teller machines, extending access to digital dollar balances beyond point-of-sale spending.

Stablecoin infrastructure supports payment settlement

The program will include SoFiUSD, SoFi's stablecoin, as part of its broader digital asset infrastructure, and the companies also intend to support additional applications involving stablecoin-powered payments and settlement.

SoFi Tech Solutions will provide bank identification number sponsorship, card issuance capabilities, transaction authorization, processing and compliance support. These services are essential for connecting digital asset applications with established card payment systems while maintaining the operational requirements associated with financial transactions.

Mastercard's involvement is intended to provide access to an established payment network and its existing acceptance infrastructure. The collaboration also reflects efforts to integrate stablecoins into familiar payment experiences rather than requiring consumers and merchants to adopt entirely new transaction systems.

Stablecoins are digital assets designed to maintain a relatively stable value, often by tracking a fiat currency such as the US dollar. Their potential applications include payments, transfers and settlement, particularly where users seek to reduce exposure to the price volatility associated with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Stablecoin demand grows across Latin America

The initiative comes as stablecoins gain prominence in Latin America's cryptocurrency markets. Data from Bitso indicated that stablecoins accounted for 40% of crypto purchases among its users in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia in 2025, compared with 18% for Bitcoin. The figures marked the first time stablecoins surpassed Bitcoin in the exchange's regional purchase data. For a card program built on digital dollar spending, the figures indicate a regional user base already acquiring dollar-linked assets in significant numbers.

Mexico's substantial remittance market provides another potential growth area for digital dollar-based financial services. Stablecoins could help facilitate cross-border transfers and provide access to dollar-linked assets, although transaction costs, regulatory requirements and conversion arrangements will influence their practical benefits.

Fi Tech Solutions President Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore highlighted the opportunity to expand access to digital dollars in Mexico through services that allow customers to receive, hold and spend these assets. The partnership could also establish a foundation for broader applications involving international transfers and stablecoin-based money movement.

Orbi targets everyday spending with digital dollars

For Orbi, the card program is intended to extend the usefulness of customers' digital dollar balances beyond holding and transferring funds. By linking those balances to Mastercard's acceptance network, the company aims to provide a familiar method of spending digital assets across participating merchants.

Orbi co-founder Leonardo Perez described the initiative as an extension of the companies' collaboration, with the objective of turning digital dollar holdings into practical purchasing power. The physical and virtual card options are expected to connect customers' digital assets with conventional retail payment experiences.

The program could help bridge the gap between digital dollar ownership and everyday spending, while creating opportunities to expand stablecoin-based payments and cross-border financial services in Latin America.

SoFi Tech Solutions expands its regional role

The partnership also represents an effort by SoFi Tech Solutions to extend its digital financial services expertise beyond the US market. The company combines Galileo's payments and processing capabilities, developed over more than three decades, with Technisys' core banking technology.

Its platform supports card issuance and processing, payments, money movement, digital banking, lending, and fraud and risk management. Clients can use these services separately or combine them to build financial products. According to the company, nearly 200 clients use its technology, which supports approximately 135 million accounts.

The launch places SoFi Tech Solutions, Orbi and Mastercard within a broader shift toward integrating digital assets with traditional financial infrastructure. The program's longer-term prospects will depend on customer adoption, regulatory compliance, and the ability to deliver convenient, cost-effective transactions across Mexico's payment ecosystem.

Source: CoinTrust