Maps.me partners with Circle to offer DeFi experience to more consumers

By Pavithra R

Circle, a global financial technology firm that provides payments and treasury infrastructure for digital businesses has announced partnering with Maps.me, which offers millions of users globally access to a decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem via its leading offline mapping application.

Under the collaboration, the companies will jointly offer consumers using USD Coin (USDC) with simple access to Maps.me’s DeFi ecosystem. This ensures cheap, fast, and secure ways to pay, transfer and invest with USDC as well as exclusive discounts and benefits all within a user-driven financial system that allows people to transact directly with each other, not through a financial institution.

“We’re very proud to be a part of the first effort to bring the DeFi experience to a massive audience on Maps.me. Our two companies share a commitment to transforming money into an internet experience that allows users to send, share, pay and invest as simply and freely as email, text messaging, or social media,” said Jeremy Allaire, CEO and Co-founder of Circle.

USDC has experienced tremendous growth, decisively becoming the fastest growing and most widely adopted fully reserved and compliant dollar digital currency. Its adoption has expanded across trading, payments, savings, lending, and other use cases in blockchain finance.

Under the partnership, Maps.me will integrate support for USDC, which was developed by Circle and Coinbase, enabling a seamless consumer journey from using a credit card to purchase USDC to holding MAPS tokens within a Maps.me Wallet. Users will be able to:

• Earn yield of as much as 8% on stored value
• Make payments via a linked credit card
• Transfer money instantly and at low cost to friends and family globally in 35 different currencies
• Get up to 10% cashback on Booking.com
• Enjoy a discount of as much as 50% on selected eSIM and telecoms services

“DeFi is ready to go mainstream and Circle is a natural partner for the Maps.me ecosystem in driving mass adoption. We know that Maps.me’s large and highly engaged user base is looking for instant, secure, and easy-to-access financial services that are relevant to their needs. This partnership with Circle accelerates our ability to deliver the benefits of DeFi and put people in charge of their financial lives, just like they are in charge of their travel,” said Alex Grebnev, Co-founder of Maps.me.

Founded in 2013, Circle is a global FinTech firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of stablecoins and public blockchains for payments and commerce worldwide. Recently the firm announced securing $440 mn in financing to drive market expansion and growth.