140+ payments and banking firms launch 'Open USD', a consortium-governed stablecoin, with Adyen, Worldline, Fiserv, Checkout.com and Nuvei as partners

Open Standard announced Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin governed by a consortium rather than a single issuer, with more than 140 founding partners across payments, banking, technology and crypto. Named payment participants include Adyen, Worldline, Fiserv, Checkout.com, Nuvei, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Stripe, PayPal, Western Union and Remitly.

The design promises no mint or redeem fees at scale and routes reserve economics back to partners; Open Standard is an independent company with a board drawn from partners. The token is slated to go live later in 2026.

Europe's largest acquirers signing into a shared, not-for-profit settlement asset is a hedge against both card-scheme economics and single-issuer stablecoins, and it is the first time this many acceptance-side players have committed to one token. If reserve economics genuinely flow to partners, it changes the margin arithmetic of cross-border settlement for exactly the PSPs that serve European merchants.

The governance claim — a network-like board rather than an issuer — is the part that will determine whether it behaves differently from existing stablecoins.

• Whether OUSD launches on schedule and how it is treated under MiCA in the EU
• Which acquirers actually offer merchant settlement in OUSD versus merely holding partner status
• Whether card schemes' participation constrains its use as a card-bypassing rail

• joinopenstandard.com
• Banking Dive — banks, card networks and fintechs partner on low-cost stablecoin