Visa is experimenting with a new pilot program that could change the way money moves across borders. The payments giant is allowing banks, remittance firms, and other financial institutions to use pre-funded stablecoins—digital currencies backed by the U.S. dollar or euro—to make international transfers faster and more efficient.
The pilot integrates with Visa Direct, the company’s real-time payments platform, and leverages Circle’s USDC and EURC stablecoins. This setup lets participating organizations instantly fund accounts in different markets, reducing the need to keep large amounts of cash sitting idle in foreign banks as a buffer for customer withdrawals.
Traditionally, businesses handling international payments must pre-fund accounts in every country they serve. If demand suddenly spikes, especially during nights or weekends, services can stall and customers face delays. “We’re giving this immediate ability to get money to the accounts in real time,” explained Mark Nelsen, Visa’s head of product for commercial and money movement solutions. “It’s a more efficient use of capital so you can deploy it as needed, rather than tying up funds for days at a time.”
Visa Direct already connects to about 11 billion cards, bank accounts, and digital wallets in 195 countries. By adding stablecoin functionality, Visa aims to give clients the ability to move money instantly across time zones, reducing downtime and strengthening global service reliability.
Stablecoins are increasingly viewed as a practical tool for international payments, offering speed and transparency beyond traditional banking systems. Rather than replacing card networks, Visa and Mastercard are positioning themselves to integrate stablecoins as part of their existing services.
Visa has already processed more than $225 million in stablecoin transactions—a small fraction compared to its $16 trillion payment volume in 2024. Even so, the initiative signals a broader ambition to expand from consumer card payments into large-scale business-to-business transactions, an area where competition from banks like JPMorgan is heating up with blockchain-based solutions.
Beyond cross-border settlements, Visa Direct is used for paying gig workers, enabling instant crypto exchange withdrawals, and other use cases that demand speed. As digital assets gain mainstream acceptance, Visa’s pilot marks an important step toward making global payments more seamless, flexible, and reliable.
