Today Visa announced expanded usage of stablecoins for settlement. It previously ran a live pilot with Crypto.com, which enabled the crypto exchange to pay Visa for the use of its branded cards using the USDC stablecoin. Now Visa says web3 merchants can choose to be receive card settlements in USDC if they use merchant acquirers Worldpay or Nuvei.
“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 Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto, Visa.
Crypto.com, as a card issuer, started running pilots with Visa in 2021. It now uses USDC to settle all its obligations for Visa cards issued in Australia. And it intends to roll out the capability in other markets.
Regarding merchants, the use of stablecoins is still within the crypto sector. Typical merchants that might want to receive stablecoins include crypto on-ramp providers, games and NFT marketplaces. Visa has a Circle account to pay USDC to Worldpay and Nuvei, who forward it on to the merchants.
“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 Jim Johnson, President of Worldpay Merchant Solutions, FIS. “Diversifying funding options and increasing flexibility is critical to serving the changing needs of global merchants in today’s rapidly evolving commerce landscape.”
Meanwhile, Visa is engaging in a variety of digital currencies. It has actively participated in several central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiatives. And it is also involved in projects for bank deposit tokens, including as part of Brazil’s CBDC trials and UK experiments with the Regulated Liability Network.
