Visa Launches Stablecoin Pilot for Instant Global Payments

Visa is testing stablecoins as a direct alternative to cash in cross-border transactions, marking one of the most significant shifts in global payments in years. Announced at SIBOS 2025, the Visa Direct pilot allows select partners to use Circle’s USDC and EURC as pre-funded assets to process near-instant payouts.

Chris Newkirk, Visa’s president of commercial and money movement solutions, called outdated systems a bottleneck for global transfers. “Visa Direct’s new stablecoin integration lays the groundwork for money to move instantly across the world, giving businesses more choice in how they pay,” he said.

The pilot targets banks, remittance providers, and financial institutions that struggle with liquidity constraints. Instead of locking up fiat currencies in multiple markets, participants can pre-fund Visa Direct with stablecoins, which Visa now treats as cash equivalents for initiating payouts. The shift is expected to free up working capital, reduce currency volatility risks, and allow payments to flow even during weekends and off-hours when traditional systems halt.

Visa revealed it has already settled more than $225 million in stablecoin transactions, a small but notable figure compared to its $16 trillion annual volume. The program is currently open only to select partners, with a broader rollout expected in 2026.

The announcement comes as competition in blockchain-based payments intensifies. Just a day earlier, Swift revealed plans to build its own blockchain settlement platform in collaboration with Consensys and more than 30 major financial institutions. Meanwhile, crypto payment startups are rapidly gaining traction: RedotPay hit unicorn status after a $47 million raise led by Coinbase Ventures, while Bastion secured $14.6 million from a group that included Sony, Samsung Next, Andreessen Horowitz, and Hashed.

Visa’s bold stablecoin experiment signals a major turning point for the future of money movement worldwide.