In a significant leap toward modernizing global payments infrastructure, Visa has announced the expansion of its stablecoin settlement capabilities—now integrating the high-performance Solana blockchain and launching pilot programs with major merchant acquirers Worldpay and Nuvei. By leveraging Circle’s USDC, Visa is enabling faster, more efficient cross-border settlements between financial institutions, issuers, and acquirers.
This development marks a pivotal evolution in how digital money moves across borders—shifting from traditional banking rails to blockchain-based systems that offer near-instant settlement, reduced costs, and greater flexibility for merchants and financial partners alike.
Modernizing Cross-Border Settlement with Blockchain
When consumers use their Visa cards at millions of merchant locations worldwide, they benefit from instant transaction authorizations. Behind the scenes, however, lies a complex web of fund movement between the cardholder’s bank (issuer) and the merchant’s bank (acquirer). Traditionally, this process can take days, especially for international transactions involving currency conversion and wire transfers.
Visa’s treasury and settlement systems currently manage billions of dollars in transactions daily across nearly 15,000 financial institutions and over 25 currencies. Now, by incorporating USDC—a regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin—on public blockchains like Ethereum and Solana, Visa is streamlining this process.
“By leveraging stablecoins like USDC and global blockchain networks like Solana and Ethereum, we're helping to improve the speed of cross-border settlement and providing a modern option for our clients to easily send or receive funds from Visa’s treasury,” said the Head of Crypto at Visa.
This shift allows real-time movement of funds in digital dollar form, significantly reducing delays and operational friction.
Building on the Crypto.com Pilot Success
The foundation for this advancement was laid in 2021 when Visa began testing USDC within its own treasury operations. This led to a landmark pilot with Crypto.com, making Visa one of the first major payment networks to explore stablecoin settlement on the issuance side.
The pilot proved successful: instead of relying on slow and expensive international wire transfers, Crypto.com could now send USDC directly over the Ethereum blockchain to a Circle-managed account linked to Visa’s treasury. This eliminated multi-day processing times and costly intermediaries.
Today, Crypto.com uses USDC to fulfill its cross-border settlement obligations on its Visa card program—a model Visa plans to expand into additional markets.
From Issuers to Acquirers: Extending Settlement Innovation
While earlier pilots focused on receiving funds from issuers via blockchain, the new phase enables Visa to send settlement payments onchain directly to acquirers such as Worldpay and Nuvei.
These global acquirers serve a vast network of merchants—from e-commerce platforms to gaming companies and NFT marketplaces—many of which operate natively in the crypto economy. For these businesses, receiving settlements in USDC rather than traditional fiat offers distinct advantages:
- Faster access to funds
- Lower transaction fees
- Seamless integration with crypto-native accounting and payout systems
Using Visa’s Circle account infrastructure, the company can now route USDC settlements to Worldpay and Nuvei, who then distribute them to their merchant clients—preserving speed and efficiency throughout the chain.
Why Solana? Speed, Scale, and Efficiency
As demand grew among partners for faster and cheaper blockchain solutions, Visa responded by adding support for the Solana blockchain—one of the most high-performance public networks available.
Solana offers:
- 400-millisecond block times
- Average throughput of 400 transactions per second (TPS)
- Capacity to surge beyond 2,000 TPS during peak loads
This makes Solana an ideal platform for high-volume, low-latency financial applications—including real-time payment settlements.
By integrating Solana, Visa becomes one of the first large-scale payment providers to utilize the network for live settlement transactions between clients. This move not only enhances performance but also signals growing institutional confidence in next-generation blockchains.
Forging Strategic Partnerships in a Digital Economy
Visa’s collaboration with Worldpay and Nuvei reflects a broader strategic push to align with key players shaping the future of digital commerce.
“Visa's USDC settlement capability enables Worldpay to bring more of our treasury operations in-house and allows us to offer merchants more choices for receiving funds,” said the President of Worldpay Merchant Solutions, FIS. “Diversifying funding options and increasing flexibility is critical to serving the changing needs of global merchants.”
Similarly, Nuvei’s Chair and CEO emphasized the transformative potential of stablecoins:
“Stablecoins like USDC are cutting-edge payments technology that can enable online businesses around the world to accelerate their growth. Optimizing cross-border transactions is only one use case where stablecoins can benefit businesses.”
These partnerships underscore a growing trend: traditional financial institutions embracing digital assets not as speculative tools, but as practical infrastructure for modern commerce.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is a stablecoin, and why is USDC important?
A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value by being pegged to a reserve asset—like the U.S. dollar. USDC (USD Coin) is a regulated, fully backed digital dollar issued by Circle. It enables fast, secure, and transparent transfers across blockchains, making it ideal for cross-border payments and settlements.
How does Visa’s stablecoin settlement work?
Visa uses USDC on public blockchains (Ethereum and Solana) to settle fiat-denominated transactions. When a card payment is authorized, instead of moving traditional currency through banking networks, Visa transfers USDC between its treasury accounts and partner institutions—dramatically speeding up settlement.
Which blockchains does Visa support for stablecoin settlements?
Visa currently supports Ethereum and Solana for USDC settlements. Ethereum provides robust security and wide adoption, while Solana delivers high speed and low cost—offering partners flexibility based on their performance needs.
Who benefits from this innovation?
- Merchants: Get faster access to funds, especially in crypto-native ecosystems.
- Acquirers (like Worldpay and Nuvei): Gain operational efficiency and new service offerings.
- Issuers: Reduce settlement time and complexity.
- Consumers: Enjoy uninterrupted payment experiences backed by improved backend infrastructure.
Is this replacing traditional payment rails?
Not yet. This is a complementary system focused on improving efficiency in specific areas—particularly cross-border settlements. Traditional rails remain essential for most domestic and legacy integrations. However, blockchain-based settlement is expected to grow as infrastructure matures.
Can any business receive USDC settlements through Visa?
Currently, these capabilities are available through pilot programs with select partners like Worldpay and Nuvei. Broader rollout will depend on regulatory alignment, partner readiness, and market demand.
Core Keywords
- Stablecoin settlement
- USDC
- Visa crypto
- Blockchain payments
- Cross-border payments
- Solana blockchain
- Merchant acquirer
- Digital dollar
The integration of USDC on Solana and Ethereum represents more than a technical upgrade—it’s a foundational shift in how global money moves. As digital commerce evolves, so too must the systems that power it.
With strategic partnerships, cutting-edge technology, and a clear vision for inclusive financial infrastructure, Visa is positioning itself at the forefront of the next generation of payments—where speed, transparency, and accessibility define success.