Payment processing giant Visa has launched USDC settlement services for United States-based financial institutions.
Visa said Tuesday that its USDC (USDC) settlement service is now available for US financial institutions, with Cross River Bank and Lead Bank the first participants who have already started settling with Visa in USDC on the Solana blockchain. A broader rollout is expected in 2026.
The report follows USDC issuer Circle’s launch of the public testnet for its layer-1 blockchain Arc, with over 100 major partners, including Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, in late October. Visa noted that it is a design partner for the network, which “offers the performance and scalability needed to help support Visa’s global commercial activity.”
Visa also said it plans to use Arc for USDC settlements within its network and operate a network node. The payment giant’s global head of growth products and strategic partnerships, Rubail Birwadker, said “financial institutions are looking for faster, programmable settlement options that integrate seamlessly with their existing treasury operations.”
Adapt or be left behind
Visa said the US launch is part of a larger effort to modernize its settlement infrastructure. Birwadker’s comments suggest that adopting stablecoins is a way for the company to ensure it remains relevant when stablecoins gain a more substantial foothold. He said, “Visa is expanding stablecoin settlement because [its] banking partners are not only asking about it — they’re preparing to use it,” suggesting customers were moving toward stablecoins independently of Visa support.
Visa appears to be taking an active role in helping financial institutions adopt stablecoins for their operations. On Monday, the company launched a global Stablecoins Advisory Practice — a unit tasked explicitly with helping banks, merchants and fintechs design, roll out and manage stablecoin products.
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On Nov. 27, Visa announced it had expanded its use of stablecoins for settlement in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa by partnering with crypto infrastructure company Aquanow. The partnership aims “to settle transactions using approved stablecoins such as USDC, reducing costs, operational friction, and settlement times.”
Visa cited strong demand from banks and payment companies as the reason behind the initiative. Still, not all Visa stablecoin products are institution-facing services that completely take away control from users.
On Nov. 12, Visa launched a pilot in the US, allowing US dollar-pegged stablecoin payouts to user wallets to be sent from business accounts funded using fiat currency. Visa said it is in the process of onboarding “select partners,” and broader access to the service will be rolled out in 2026.
Related: Stablecoin usage in Venezuela likely to keep expanding amid economic instability
