What will the WalletConnect Partnership Mean for Ingenico?
A partnership between Ingenico, the payment acceptance and services company, and WalletConnect will allow merchants to accept supported stablecoins, giving customers additional payment options and convenience when making purchases.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to have stable values by pegging them to an external asset, such as the US dollar, or gold.
Through the integration brought about by the two companies, customers will be able to pay using USDC across Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, Ethereum Mainnet and other EVM-compatible chains. Additional networks are planned by the companies.
Payments can be made using any WalletConnect-compatible mobile wallet holding a supported stablecoin balance. This includes MetaMask, Trust, Safe and others supported through WalletConnect.
The partnership combines Ingenico’s global payment acceptance infrastructure and WalletConnect’s payment technology to support stablecoin transactions in everyday retail environments. The solution is designed for use across a wide range of merchant settings, including retail, hospitality, transportation, fuel, parking, vending and self-service.
Unlike crypto-linked cards that rely on traditional card networks, WalletConnect Pay enables native stablecoin transactions.
Customers pay directly from their mobile wallets, with funds moving to the merchant’s payment provider. This approach supports faster settlement and reduces reliance on legacy infrastructure.
The importance of stablecoins
“Stablecoins have become an important payment instrument for moving value quickly and efficiently,” says Jess Houlgrave, CEO of WalletConnect. “By working with Ingenico, we’re extending stablecoin payments into real-world retail environments in a way that is practical, familiar and easy for both merchants and consumers around the world.”
“Ingenico’s role is to ensure merchants can accept the payment methods their customers want to use, in a way that is secure, compliant and operationally simple,” says Floris de Kort, CEO of Ingenico. “We’re seeing growing interest in stablecoin payments, and this integration with WalletConnect gives our partners a way to offer stablecoin acceptance using existing payment systems.”
The integration will be available to acquirers and payment service providers in January 2026, helping merchants adopt in-store stablecoin payments through existing, secure payment infrastructure.
Ingenico has tens of millions of payment devices deployed worldwide, powered by over 2,500 apps.
Ingenico brings in three new executives to its leadership team
The company had a significant change in its leadership team late last year, with payments veteran Floris de Kort becoming CEO in November 2025, replacing Laurent Blanchard.
Floris was Chief Executive Officer of Global eCommerce at Worldpay, where he led a significant transformation culminating in a highly successful IPO in 2015.
In 2019, he became CEO of Xplor Technologies, a global leader in software, services and integrated payments and most recently served as CEO of Thunes, a fast-growing cross-border payments network.
On his appointment, Floris said: “The company has a unique position in the payments ecosystem, trusted by merchants, banks, and partners around the world. I look forward to working with the team to further expand our global offering, accelerate growth and execution, and deliver world-class solutions to our customers.”
Alongside Floris, Autumn Flora joined as Chief Marketing Officer, and Joanne Bennett as Chief Financial Officer.
Floris is one of FinTech Magazine’s Top 10 fintech leaders in Europe.
In September, Ingenico launched its new device management solution Ingenico Manage 360. Device agnostic, including other Android devices, the cloud-based solution advances payment acceptance technology management, offering high levels of efficiency and control for customers.
In November, the Bank of England published a consultation on a regulatory framework for systemic stablecoins, proposing government debt backing and temporary holding limits.
Its proposed regulatory framework for sterling-denominated systemic stablecoins establishes requirements for backing assets, holding limits and prudential oversight ahead of anticipated implementation this year.
The regime targets stablecoins that could be used for retail payments and wholesale settlement, while non-systemic stablecoins used primarily for cryptoasset trading will remain under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) supervision.
