Ingenico is advancing its long-running crypto integration efforts with a new partnership that brings stablecoin payments directly to physical retail via a partnership with WalletConnect.
According to a Jan. 13 announcement, the global payments terminal giant has teamed up with WalletConnect Pay to roll out native support for stablecoins at the point of sale.
Stablecoin payments without intermediaries
The collaboration introduces a direct stablecoin payment mechanism across Ingenico’s Android-based POS devices, eliminating the need for intermediaries like Visa or Mastercard.
Instead, consumers can pay directly from wallets such as MetaMask and Trust Wallet, using supported stablecoins like USDC, EURC, and USDT.
Transactions are facilitated by WalletConnect Pay’s infrastructure, allowing the funds to flow straight to the merchant’s payment provider.
Unlike crypto debit cards that use traditional rails and often require off-ramping through banks, this approach positions stablecoins as a parallel settlement method native to blockchain infrastructure.
Ingenico’s setup allows the transaction to begin at the terminal and end with funds reaching the merchant, either as crypto or fiat, depending on business preferences.
The new system is compatible with millions of Ingenico terminals deployed globally.
Although the company didn’t specify exactly how many merchants will activate the feature at launch, the potential reach spans 40 million POS units across 120 countries.
One of the more complex aspects of retail crypto payments, refunds has also been addressed.
Merchants can process reversals either through a dashboard click or via automated workflows. WalletConnect’s infrastructure includes safeguards to prevent user-side errors, such as sending funds to the wrong network.
WalletConnect CEO Jess Houlgrave noted that the integration is designed to bring down transaction costs significantly, particularly for international purchases.
Fee structures are jointly developed by WalletConnect, Ingenico, and individual payment providers, with pricing aligned to actual network and settlement costs.
Merchants can also choose between stablecoin settlement and immediate fiat conversion, depending on their operational needs.
At launch, WalletConnect Pay’s stablecoin support will extend across several leading chains, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, and Polygon.
Support for Optimism and Solana is expected to be added in the coming months.
This move builds on WalletConnect’s strong 2025 performance, where its network handled over $400 billion in volume, a significant portion of which came from stablecoin transactions.
Ingenico brings crypto to retail
Ingenico’s partnership with WalletConnect is just the latest in its multi-year journey to embed crypto capabilities into retail payment infrastructure.
The firm’s crypto roadmap began in 2015 with a pioneering partnership with BitPay, which enabled merchants to accept Bitcoin through traditional POS terminals like the ICT250.
Since then, it has joined forces with Binance to pilot in-store crypto payments in France via Binance Pay.
In 2024, Ingenico expanded globally with Crypto.com, offering a turnkey solution that included instant fiat settlement and an integrated merchant wallet within its AXIUM terminals.
Later that year, it partnered with Lunu Pay to enhance its Web3 stack, adding support for over 70 wallets, including Trust Wallet and Coinbase, and popular tokens like USDT, with automatic currency conversions at the time of sale.
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