JPMorgan and Citigroup have long been competing for dominance in the global payments space, handling trillions of dollars in corporate cross-border transactions. Now, this rivalry is extending into new payment channels.
As digital currencies increasingly integrate into mainstream financial systems, the two banks are building competing platforms, though taking slightly different development paths. Citigroup has expressed openness toward stablecoins and is partnering with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. to build payment capabilities, while also operating its own tokenized deposit service. JPMorgan, by contrast, is focusing its strategy on internal infrastructure and remains more cautious about stablecoins, citing limited demand from wholesale clients so far.
Citigroup is collaborating with Coinbase Global Inc. to enable institutional clients to accept stablecoin payments, as major financial institutions intensify their engagement with emerging digital currencies.
On Monday, Citigroup announced that merchants using its Spring by Citi payment service will be able to accept stablecoin payments at checkout through integration with Coinbase Payments. These digital tokens will automatically convert into fiat currency, with Citigroup acting as the settlement bank—meaning merchants won’t need to hold or manage cryptocurrencies themselves.
Shamil Haliq, head of Citigroup’s banking services, said in an interview that the move aims to give bank customers greater choice in how they receive and make payments, as payment methods and currency forms continue evolving.
“We’re striving to ensure we cover all aspects of their income and expenses,” he said.
Coinbase will also leverage Citigroup’s virtual account wallet infrastructure to offer its payment customers bank-like services, such as receiving, holding, and sending funds. Received fiat payments will be automatically converted into stablecoins.
Earlier this month, 21 financial firms—including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America—announced plans to form a company to issue a dollar-pegged stablecoin.
Citigroup and Coinbase stated they will initially launch the service in the U.S., with plans to further collaborate over the coming months to develop additional solutions.
