Interview: Inside Fiserv’s Stablecoin Strategy

On Monday, Fiserv announced plans for of its own stablecoin, FIUSD, and a series of partnerships with Circle, Paxos, PayPal, and Mastercard. The move positions one of the most entrenched infrastructure providers in U.S. banking to bring digital asset capabilities to its network of 10,000 financial institutions and six million merchants.

As a global leader in financial technology and payments, Fiserv provides the core systems that power banking, payments, and commerce — from account processing and card issuance to digital banking and merchant acquiring.

We spoke with Cooper Thompson, Head of Embedded Finance and Digital Assets Product, to unpack what’s really behind the announcement.

In our conversation, Thompson explained:

• Why Fiserv is launching its own stablecoin

• How Fiserv plans to integrate digital assets into its core infrastructure

• Key use cases for banks and merchants

• The role of partners like Circle, Paxos, PayPal, and Mastercard in scaling adoption

• If banks benefit from the yield on the stablecoin reserves

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Why Fiserv Is Entering the Stablecoin Race

Cooper, let’s start with the big picture. Why is Fiserv entering the stablecoin and digital asset space now?

We’ve kept a close eye on the digital asset space for years, but as a heavily regulated and trusted infrastructure provider, we took a cautious approach. The evolving regulatory environment, especially with U.S. legislation like the GENIUS Act, created a window for us to move decisively.

For us, stablecoins are the entry point. We see them as digital cash, a new money movement rail. But we’re not stopping there. Our broader strategy includes programmable payments, tokenized deposits, and real-world assets.

Why do you think Fiserv is particularly well positioned in this space?

It comes down to network reach. We serve thousands of financial institutions plugged into our core banking and payment platforms, and millions of merchants globally. No one else has the ability to turn this many endpoints into trusted digital asset nodes.

Importantly, we also see it as our responsibility to empower financial institutions of all sizes — especially those that may not have the same innovation budgets as the largest players. Our goal is to help them enter this space successfully and avoid being left behind by faster-moving competitors.

Building the Infrastructure: Product, Partners, and Use Cases

So how does the stablecoin product actually work? What does the architecture look like?