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PhotonPay announced over the weekend it has joined Circle Internet Financial’s fledgling Arc blockchain, representing the latest participant for Arc since Circle unveiled the network in August.
Hong Kong-based PhotonPay, which in July became a Mastercard commercial card issuer, also supports Mastercard users of Google Pay to enable contactless payments and digital card storage.
With its participation in Arc, 10-year-old PhotonPay now hopes to leverage its position in cross-border payment flows. The company says it supports more than 200,000 businesses globally that seek services for new accounts, card issuing, payouts, and online payments.
Arc, which functions as part of the Circle Payments Network, is aimed at speeding foreign-exchange by providing what Circle calls “sub-second” finality in settlement. The importance of Arc to Circle includes its ability to generate so-called gas fees, or payments to miners for validating blockchain transactions. These fees can range from fractions of a penny to several dollars per transaction.
Besides PhotonPay, some 100 companies are participating in Arc so far, including Visa, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock
PhotonPay’s initiative with Circle “represents a major stride toward building open, programmable financial infrastructure. It also highlights a key shift in modernizing global payment systems and empowering enterprises to adopt blockchain-driven financial solutions,” PhotonPay says in a statement.
Circle’s expectations for Arc are running high, as the new system is intended “to bring real-world economic activity on-chain,” Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s chief executive, said last week during the company’s conference call with equity analysts. Allaire added that Circle is “exploring a token for the Arc network,” though he did not elaborate.
Circle does not report statistics for Arc. The New York City-based company said last week its Circle Payments Network generated $3.4 billion in annualized volume in the September quarter, having enrolled 29 financial institutions with about 500 in the pipeline.
