Visa is expanding its stablecoin settlement capabilities by partnering with Circle’s USDC stablecoin and launching pilot programs with merchant acquirers Worldpay and Nuvei, aiming to modernize cross-border payments.
Facts
- Visa is collaborating with Circle’s USDC stablecoin to enhance its settlement capabilities for cross-border payments.
- The Solana blockchain will be utilized to accelerate settlement times for payments firms serving their merchant clients.
- The partnership enables partners to use a high-performance blockchain capable of handling 400 transactions per second for sending and receiving USDC.
- Visa has already conducted “millions of USDC” transfers between partners using Solana and Ethereum blockchains to settle fiat-denominated payments authorized over VisaNet.
- Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, believes this adoption will improve cross-border settlement speed and offer a modern option for clients to manage funds.
- Visa’s engagement with stablecoins, particularly USDC, began in 2021 with a successful pilot with Crypto.com, addressing currency conversion challenges and expensive international wire transfers.
- Visa plans to run pilots with Worldpay and Nuvei to test onchain payouts, providing additional benefits to merchants.
- Jim Johnson, President of Worldpay Merchant Solutions, FIS, sees the partnership as a way to bring more treasury options in-house and offer merchants more fund-receiving options.
- Philip Fayer, Chair and CEO of Nuvei, believes stablecoins will boost online businesses, and Visa’s efforts to optimize cross-border transactions are just one example of how stablecoins can benefit businesses.
