Cross-border payments for enterprises just got a major structural shake-up. Convera, the world’s largest non-bank B2B commercial payments firm, confirmed a new strategic collaboration with Ripple on March 31, 2026. The deal is designed to bring stablecoin-enabled settlement into Convera’s existing global payment infrastructure, which spans over 200 countries and processes roughly $190 billion in annual transaction volume.
The partnership leans on a model that neither firm invented but both are now betting on. Payments begin and end in fiat currency, while regulated stablecoins handle the settlement phase in between. That structure cuts volatility risk for businesses while keeping the movement of funds faster than traditional banking rails allow, particularly in corridors where legacy systems remain slow or expensive.
How the Settlement Model Actually Works
Convera manages the full payment experience on the customer side. Ripple handles what happens underneath: liquidity provisioning, on and off ramping, and cross-border settlement infrastructure. According to the official announcement on Business Wire, this division of roles keeps digital asset complexity away from end users while still capturing blockchain’s speed benefits.
Patrick Gauthier, CEO of Convera, addressed the rationale behind choosing Ripple as the partner for this build-out.
“With the growing presence and use of digital currencies such as crypto and stablecoins, Convera has maintained a thoughtful approach by listening to what our customers want while watching this space continue to mature. Ripple is a clear leader in the crypto space and a natural fit for Convera.”
Ripple confirmed the deal through its official X account (@Ripple), noting the combination of global payment rails with stablecoin settlement was aimed at improving speed, liquidity, and reliability across enterprise use cases. According to Ripple on X, the two companies are merging their respective infrastructure to expand enterprise cross-border payments at scale.
Ripple’s Expanding Enterprise Push
Aaron Slettehaugh, SVP of Product at Ripple, put the case plainly. Businesses want flexibility and speed in moving money globally. What most of them don’t want is to manage digital asset exposure directly.
“By bringing together a trusted global payment infrastructure with stablecoin-powered settlement, businesses get more control over how and when they move value across borders,” Slettehaugh said.
Ripple’s footprint has grown considerably ahead of this deal. The company’s payments platform has processed more than $100 billion in total volume to date. Its acquisition spree in 2026 brought in custody provider Palisade, virtual accounts firm Rail, prime brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, and treasury software company GTreasury for $1 billion. Those moves folded into a unified infrastructure stack that Convera’s network can now draw from.
Convera, formerly known as Western Union Business Solutions, carries its own weight in this arrangement. Its network includes more than 50 banking partners, over 500 accounts globally, and reaches transactions across 140-plus currencies. Businesses operating in underserved payment corridors stand to gain the most from the combined setup.
Stablecoins at the Center
The timing of the announcement reflects how fast the stablecoin conversation has shifted in enterprise finance. Ripple launched its own stablecoin, RLUSD, in late 2024. That product has since grown to exceed $1.4 billion in market capitalization, placing it inside the top ten stablecoins globally, according to CoinGecko data. It remains unclear whether RLUSD will serve as the primary settlement asset under the Convera deal, as both companies have not confirmed specific stablecoin selection.
Mastercard added Ripple to its Crypto Partner Program in March, giving the blockchain firm access to a payments network that handles more than $9 trillion in annual volume. That followed Stripe’s completion of its $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge, signaling how aggressively large payments infrastructure players are repositioning around stablecoin rails.
For Convera’s part, the collaboration fits into the company’s broader modernization trajectory. Patrick Gauthier told reporters in late 2025 that Convera has been migrating legacy systems toward more dynamic, code-based architecture. The Ripple deal brings that digital transformation push directly into settlement operations.
The two companies plan to roll out the crypto-enabled payment and treasury solutions to clients progressively. A firm launch timeline has not been disclosed publicly, though Convera flagged the partnership at Fintech Meetup in Las Vegas on April 1, 2026, where the company’s session focused on moving fast across new payment rails without compromising compliance.
Key Takeaways:
- Ripple and Convera partner to deliver stablecoin cross-border payments using a fiat-to-fiat model.
- Convera’s $190B annual volume network now taps Ripple’s blockchain settlement infrastructure.
- The “stablecoin sandwich” model reduces crypto volatility exposure for enterprise clients.
