Visa pilots stablecoin payments for cross-border transfers

Visa has launched a pilot programme testing stablecoins for cross-border payments to speed up international transfers.

The initiative allows businesses, including banks and remittance firms, to pre-fund Visa Direct with stablecoins instead of fiat currency.

Visa will treat those stablecoins as available balances for payouts, reducing the need to lock up cash days before sending funds.

“We’re bringing stablecoins to Visa Direct — our push payments platform, enabling real-time money movement to billions of endpoints,” a Visa spokesperson said.

The pilot aims to cut settlement times from several days to minutes, improving liquidity for businesses.

Recipients will still receive payouts in their local currency, according to the company.

Visa confirmed that Circle’s USDC and EURC are the first stablecoins being tested in the programme.

More assets may be added later depending on market demand, though Visa did not rule out creating its own stablecoin in the future.

The pilot will run with select partners, with limited availability expected by April 2026.

The company has identified two key use cases for stablecoins: preserving savings in markets with volatile currencies and supporting faster, cheaper cross-border transfers.

The move follows the passage of the U.S. GENIUS Act, which established federal rules for the stablecoin sector.

Visa has already partnered with Stripe-owned Bridge to issue stablecoin-linked Visa cards for global merchant spending.

In June, it struck a deal with Yellow Card in Africa to explore treasury and liquidity use cases.

The firm has also piloted stablecoin settlement for card issuers and acquirers and launched the Visa Tokenised Asset Platform to help banks issue and manage stablecoins.

“Cross-border payments have been stuck in outdated systems for far too long,” said Chris Newkirk, Visa’s president of commercial and money movement solutions. “Visa Direct’s new stablecoins integration lays the groundwork for money to move instantly across the world, giving businesses more choice in how they pay.”