Visa has announced significant advancements in its strategy to modernize cross-border fund movements. The global payment network is extending its stablecoin settlement capabilities to the high-performance Solana blockchain. This expansion includes new collaborations with leading merchant acquirers, Worldpay and Nuvei.
Through live pilots with card issuers and acquirers, Visa has already facilitated the transfer of millions of USDC between partners using both the Solana and Ethereum blockchain networks. These transfers are used to settle fiat-denominated payments originally authorized over VisaNet.
When consumers use a Visa card at millions of merchant locations worldwide, they experience near-instant payment authorization. Behind the scenes, however, the funds used for those purchases must move between the consumer’s bank (the issuer) and the merchant’s bank (the acquirer). Visa’s treasury and settlement systems facilitate the clearing, settlement, and movement of billions of transactions daily, ensuring the correct amount in the preferred currency is received from the issuer and sent to the acquirer. This process operates seamlessly among nearly 15,000 financial institutions globally and supports over 25 currencies.
Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa, stated: "By leveraging stable currencies like USDC and global blockchain networks such as Solana and Ethereum, we are helping to increase the speed of cross-border settlement and providing our clients with a modern option to easily send or receive funds from Visa’s treasury. Visa is committed to being at the forefront of digital currency and blockchain innovation and using these new technologies to help improve how we move money."
Building on the Crypto.com Pilot
In 2021, Visa began exploring the use of USDC within its financial operations. This led to a pilot with Crypto.com, making Visa one of the first major payment networks to test stablecoin settlements with an issuer. The successful pilot used USDC on the Ethereum blockchain for Crypto.com to receive cross-border payments for its card program in Australia. As a result, Crypto.com now uses USDC to settle its Visa card obligations in Australia and plans to expand this functionality to other markets.
Prior to this pilot, settling cross-border transactions for the Crypto.com Visa card involved a multi-day process of currency conversion and costly international wire transfers. Now, Crypto.com can send USDC directly to a Circle account managed by Visa’s treasury via the Ethereum blockchain, significantly reducing the time and complexity associated with international wires.
Jeremy Allaire, Co-founder and CEO of Circle, commented: "We are thrilled by the use cases for USDC that Visa and its partners are driving, creating fundamental blockchain innovation. Circle created USDC to provide a functional digital dollar that can move at internet speed to enable secure, reliable payments. Expanding the pilot demonstrates that USDC, combined with Visa's innovation, will open up the future for payments, commerce, and financial applications."
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From Issuers to Acquirers
While Visa’s treasury operations continue to test receiving on-chain funds from multiple issuer partners, these new settlement capabilities now allow Visa to send on-chain funds to acquirers like Worldpay and Nuvei. This helps accelerate settlement times for their merchants.
Worldpay and Nuvei are global acquirers serving merchants across numerous industries. This includes a growing number of businesses interacting with the blockchain and crypto economy, such as on-ramp providers, gaming platforms, and NFT marketplaces. These merchants may prefer to receive stablecoins over traditional fiat currency for the card payments they accept. By utilizing its own Circle account, Visa can now manage USDC settlement payments to Worldpay and Nuvei, who can then forward these USDC payments to their end merchants.
Adding Support for the Solana Blockchain Network
As Visa looks to expand this functionality to more clients, the need to send and receive stablecoins faster and at a lower cost is paramount. For these reasons, Visa has chosen to add support for Solana as a high-performance blockchain. Partners can now opt to send or receive USDC settlement payments over the Solana network, making Visa one of the first major payment companies to use Solana directly for real-time settlement between clients. The Solana blockchain boasts a block time of 400 milliseconds and an average of 400 transactions per second (TPS), which can surge to over 2,000 TPS during peak demand.
Forming New Partnerships
With an eye on the future of an increasingly digital financial landscape, Visa is pioneering new partnerships and embracing the innovative potential of digital currencies. The collaborations with Worldpay and Nuvei represent a significant step in this direction.
Jim Johnson, President of Worldpay Merchant Solutions at FIS, said: "Visa’s USDC settlement capability allows Worldpay to bring more of our financial operations in-house and enables us to offer our merchants more choices for receiving funds. In today’s rapidly evolving commerce environment, diverse funding options and greater flexibility are essential to meet the changing needs of global merchants."
Philip Fayer, Chairman and CEO of Nuvei, added: "Stablecoins like USDC are cutting-edge payment technology that can accelerate growth for online businesses worldwide. Optimizing cross-border transactions is just one use case where stablecoins can benefit businesses. As a leading global payment company, we are constantly focused on innovation, and we are excited to collaborate with Visa to bring these capabilities to our partners."
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Visa’s new stablecoin settlement initiative?
Visa is expanding its capability to settle transactions with partners using the USDC stablecoin. It now supports settlements over the Solana blockchain in addition to Ethereum and is working with acquirers like Worldpay and Nuvei to send stablecoin payments to their merchants.
How does using stablecoins like USDC improve cross-border settlement?
Traditional international wire transfers can be slow and involve high fees. Stablecoins enable near-instant, 24/7 cross-border transfers that reduce settlement times from days to minutes and lower transaction costs for all parties involved.
Which blockchains does Visa support for these settlements?
Visa currently supports USDC settlements on both the Ethereum and Solana blockchain networks. The addition of Solana is aimed at providing higher transaction throughput and lower costs for partners.
Who can benefit from Visa’s stablecoin settlement service?
This service is designed for Visa’s partners, including card issuers and merchant acquirers. Ultimately, it benefits merchants—especially those in crypto-native industries—by providing faster access to funds and more settlement options.
Is Visa moving all its settlements to blockchain?
No. Visa is integrating blockchain-based settlement as an additional, modern option for its partners. Traditional fiat settlement systems continue to operate in parallel, providing flexibility and choice.
What does this mean for the future of payments?
Visa’s adoption of blockchain and stablecoins signals a growing institutional acceptance of digital assets. It paves the way for faster, more transparent, and cost-effective global payment systems, 👉 bringing financial innovation closer to businesses worldwide.