PNC Teams With Coinbase to Let Big Clients Get Paid in USDC

PNC Bank is partnering with Coinbase to let its corporate and institutional clients accept payments in stablecoin, the two companies said on Nov 9. Eligible clients will receive payments in Circle's USDC, which gets converted into US dollars automatically. The pitch: faster access to funds and quicker cross-border transfers, since stablecoins move almost instantly.

PNC's Tom Lang, head of treasury management product and operations, framed the rollout as an experiment rather than a finished product. The aim, he said, is to test and learn with clients and figure out which stablecoin features actually help them. That, he added, is why the bank sees this as a good place to start.

The ground between the two firms isn't new. PNC tapped Coinbase last year to offer crypto trading to its customers through the exchange's institutional crypto-as-a-service platform, and the Pittsburgh-based bank said it would also provide banking services to Coinbase.

Coinbase's Alec Lovett, head of infrastructure products, put the deal in a wider frame, calling it part of a broader convergence between traditional finance institutions and crypto and stablecoin infrastructure. The service starts small: the companies said it will initially be offered on a limited basis as a pilot program.