Visa begins pilot of stablecoins for cross-border transfers

Global payments company Visa (VISA) has launched a pilot program allowing companies to use stablecoins for cross-border transfers. The experiment aims to shorten payment times that previously took days to minutes, helping companies secure liquidity.

On the 30th (local time), The Block reported that Visa has started a pilot program using stablecoins. Through this, corporate customers can pre-fund Visa Direct accounts using stablecoins instead of fiat currency.

A Visa spokesperson explained, "We are introducing stablecoins to Visa Direct, the real-time money transfer platform," adding, "This is creating an environment where instant and programmable payments are possible to billions of endpoints worldwide." The project is scheduled to operate in a limited form in April next year, and initially USDC and EURC issued by Circle will be tested.

Partner company names were not disclosed, but Visa said it could add more assets depending on demand. On whether it would issue its own stablecoin, it said, "We cannot rule it out," while drawing a line that it is currently focused on expanding payment, settlement, and banking integrations of existing stablecoins.

The pilot accelerated after the passage of the United States' first federal-level stablecoin legislation, the Genius Act (GENIUS Act). Visa cited key use cases for stablecoins as ▲ a store of value compared with volatile emerging market currencies ▲ a low-cost, high-speed means of cross-border transfers, and it estimates the market opportunity at $1 trillion.

Visa has steadily expanded its stablecoin strategy this year. In June, it tested finance and liquidity use with African remittance company Yellow Card, and also ran tests to introduce stablecoins into settlement between card issuers and merchants. In addition, it has worked with subsidiary Bridge to support developers in issuing Visa cards integrated with stablecoins, and developed a "Visa tokenized assets platform" to help banks issue and manage stablecoins.

Chris Newkirk, Visa's head of commercial and remittance solutions, said, "Cross-border payments have long been trapped in outdated systems," adding, "The integration of stablecoins into Visa Direct lays the foundation for money to move instantly anywhere in the world and will give businesses more payment options."