By Hannah Lang
Nov 9 (Reuters) - PNC Bank is working with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to let corporate and institutional clients receive payments in stablecoin, as financial firms continue to test dollar-backed cryptocurrency tokens.
Eligible PNC clients will be able to receive payments in Circle's USDC stablecoin, which will then be automatically converted to US dollars. The companies said the service will provide businesses quicker access to funds and improve the speed of cross-border transactions, since stablecoins can be sent and received almost instantly.
“Right now, this is about testing and learning with our clients and helping explore which of those potential features of the stablecoin are a benefit,” said Tom Lang, head of treasury management product and operations at PNC. “I think that's why we see it as such a great place to start.”
PNC last year tapped Coinbase to offer crypto trading to the bank's customers, using Coinbase's institutional "crypto-as-a-service" platform. The Pittsburgh-based financial institution also said it would offer banking services to Coinbase.
“Big picture, this is really part of a broader story about convergence between [traditional finance] institutions and crypto and stablecoin infrastructure,” said Alec Lovett, head of infrastructure products at Coinbase.
The service will initially be offered on a limited basis as part of a pilot program, the companies said.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; Editing by Jonathan Spicer )