Samsung is rolling its wallet app into cross-border payments. Starting in the last week of October, eligible users will be able to send USDC through Samsung Wallet to other wallets or bank accounts, according to a partnership announcement released by Solana on Wednesday.
Woncheol Chai, head of digital wallet business at Samsung Electronics, said: 「Sending money abroad should be as easy as using the wallet already installed on your phone. By putting USDC transfers into Samsung Wallet, eligible Galaxy users can get started without installing another app or managing private keys themselves.」
About 82 million Galaxy devices in the US are included in the first rollout
Solana said the feature will be available on about 82 million Galaxy devices in the United States and will be fully compatible with Samsung Wallet, the app already used for bank cards, IDs and boarding passes.
To support the service, Solana and Sui will provide the underlying blockchain networks. Coinbase will custody the stablecoin through Coinbase Prime Vault, while Bastion will provide regulated stablecoin infrastructure.
Users can send to wallets or bank accounts in more than 60 countries
Through the integration, users will be able to send Circle’s USDC. The report described USDC as the world’s second-largest dollar-pegged token and said institutions favor it because of its stronger regulatory backing. The International Monetary Fund, in its annual report, said stablecoin use in cross-border transactions has expanded quickly this year because of lower transaction costs.
Galaxy users will be able to send USDC to compatible crypto wallets abroad or directly to qualified bank accounts in more than 60 countries, with recipients receiving local currency. Samsung said it will not charge fees for USDC transfers sent to compatible external wallets, though the receiving wallet or exchange may charge separately.
Built-in funding rails and biometric checks for transfers
Samsung said the product removes much of the crypto setup that usually comes with sending stablecoins. Customers will fund transfers through built-in on- and off-ramps, and funds can only be sent after biometric authentication on a registered Galaxy device.
First large-scale stablecoin rollout for Samsung in the US market
The launch turns Samsung’s broader stablecoin plans into a consumer product. In August, Samsung said it planned to add stablecoin savings and payment functions to hundreds of millions of Galaxy phones. Analysts told CoinDesk at the time that the move could make Samsung an important distribution channel for digital dollars. The US launch is its first large-scale deployment.
The report said the integration gives Samsung a token distribution channel that crypto companies have historically struggled to build on their own. Embedding the technology into a familiar payments app already installed on tens of millions of phones also pushes stablecoins closer to a simple remittance product rather than a speculative trading tool: recipients can receive fiat directly into a bank account and may not need to open a crypto wallet at all.
Partners say preinstalled wallets could open a path to mainstream use
Industry participants see the framework as one route for stablecoins to move into mainstream cross-border payments.
Lily Liu, president of the Solana Foundation, said: 「Stablecoins could make moving money around the world faster and simpler, and we want Galaxy users to benefit from that without dealing with the complexity of traditional crypto tools.」
Liu also said stablecoins have already shown that blockchain can move money globally in a fast and low-cost way, but had lacked a path to mainstream adoption until this partnership with Samsung.
Borderless echoed that view in a statement to CoinDesk. Kevin Lehtiniitty, chief executive of Borderless.xyz, wrote on LinkedIn: 「Mass adoption was never going to come from asking people to download crypto apps. It comes from the phone already in your pocket. I expect Apple and Google to follow; at that point, sending money abroad will be as simple as sending a text.」
Samsung has not given a timeline for markets outside the US
Samsung has not said when the feature will expand beyond the United States. The company said future availability will depend on local regulation. It also said online stablecoin payments and tap-to-pay transactions could later be enabled on eligible Galaxy phones.