Reap, a card and payments technology company building stablecoin-native infrastructure, will support Monad, an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain designed for financial applications. Meru, a financial application serving users in Latin America, is the first company to launch a card programme on the integration, which runs exclusively on the Monad network.
Addressing the finality gap in card authorisation
Stablecoin-linked cards allow users to spend digital assets through traditional payment networks, but blockchain transaction finality remains an operational obstacle for issuers. Card networks require issuers to confirm that funds are available within seconds of a transaction being initiated. On blockchains with slower finality, issuers may have to rely on prefunded accounts or short-term credit arrangements to cover the interval between authorisation and onchain confirmation, which adds complexity and financial risk.
Monad operates with 300-millisecond block times and 600-millisecond deterministic finality. According to the companies, this allows card providers to verify stablecoin balances onchain before approving a payment, within the authorisation window, and without pre-approving spend. In addition, for issuers, this reduces dependence on the prefunding and credit mechanisms that slower networks require.
Keone Hon, Co-Founder and GM, Monad Foundation, described card payments as a demanding real-world test for blockchain infrastructure and presented the decision by Reap and Meru to build on the network as an indication that onchain settlement can support everyday spending.
Building on the Visa collaboration
The integration extends Reap’s existing collaboration with Visa, under which partners can launch stablecoin-linked Visa card programmes in more than 100 markets across Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Issuers using Reap’s infrastructure rely on the company for authorisation, processing, compliance, and operations, allowing them to enter new markets without assembling that stack themselves. Monad now becomes an additional network option for these issuers as stablecoin card programmes scale.
Daren Guo, Co-Founder, Reap, said issuers need to build on the network that suits their users without rebuilding their programmes from scratch. The official added that the Monad integration gives programmes such as Meru a settlement layer that works within card authorisation timeframes.
Latin America as the initial market
The first deployment targets Latin America, where stablecoin adoption continues to grow. In Mexico, stablecoins accounted for 61% of crypto flows in the year to June 2026, representing more than USD 47 billion, according to Chainalysis data cited in the announcement. Reap also referenced an estimated 57.7 million crypto users in the region, said demand for using stablecoins in daily spending is particularly pronounced there, and indicated it expects more issuers in Latin America to follow.
For Meru, the programme marks a move beyond the established regional use cases for stablecoins, saving and cross-border transfers, towards everyday spending. Amilcar Erazo, Co-Founder & CEO of Meru, said this step requires infrastructure that is fast and predictable enough for card payments, and that the partnership with Reap on Monad allows users to spend their digital dollars in a way comparable to cash.
