Visa has officially begun integrating Circle’s USDC settlement capabilities into US banks and payment partners, following successful pilot programs that achieved a $3.5 billion annualized run rate by November 2025.
Visa is now extending direct USDC settlement services to its US issuer and acquirer partners, with early adopters including Cross River Bank and Lead Bank. During the pilot phase, Visa tested USDC on multiple blockchain networks, including Ethereum and Solana, while also testing EURC on Stellar. The expanded program now supports several stablecoins—USDC, PYUSD, USDG, and EURC—across four different blockchains.
These trials have demonstrated significant improvements in settlement efficiency, transforming traditional multi-day settlement processes into near-real-time transactions.
Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa, stated: “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.”
Operational Benefits and Implementation Support
The shift to stablecoin-based settlement infrastructure offers substantial operational advantages, including near-instant funds movement and seven-day settlement availability. This technology addresses traditional banking limitations such as weekend and holiday delays, while creating an alternative channel for direct payouts to creators and gig economy workers.
To facilitate adoption, Visa has established a Global Stablecoins Advisory Practice within its Visa Consulting & Analytics division. This specialized team provides strategic guidance, market-entry planning, and technical integration support for financial institutions looking to implement stablecoin-enabled products while navigating compliance requirements.
Visa emphasizes that this rollout represents an infrastructure and product offering rather than a fundamental change in custody models. Partner institutions will still need to address traditional KYC/AML requirements and make custody decisions when integrating these tokenized settlement rails. The advisory practice has been structured specifically to help institutions navigate these requirements while building implementation roadmaps that address operational latency, custody solutions, and regulatory compliance.
