JCB is partnering with Circle to examine cross-border payments using USDC and the feasibility of applying it to merchant payments in Japan.

According to a recent Cointelegraph report, the companies will first seek a way to use USDC for JCB's internal cross-border fund transfers through a proof of concept.

The companies are also pursuing a plan that would allow overseas visitors to Japan to pay with stablecoins at local merchants. They will also review technology that supports interoperability across multiple blockchain networks.

The agreement follows a separate project JCB began in January with Resona Holdings and others. At the time, JCB tested stablecoin payments at offline stores in Japan and reviewed technical and operational tasks needed for adoption by domestic merchants.

After the initial proof of concept, the companies also plan to examine additional uses of stablecoin infrastructure for cross-border payments and merchant services. They did not disclose a commercialization timeline.

In Japan, stablecoin payment experiments have continued this year. In June, Circle and Nomura were reported to be developing a stablecoin-based foreign exchange settlement service for Japanese companies, and Lawson said it plans to test yen-denominated stablecoin payments at Tokyo stores starting in August. Netstars launched a merchant payment service supporting USDC, USDT and JPYC on the Solana and Polygon blockchains.