The initiative seeks to address long-standing inefficiencies in traditional international payment systems, which have often been slow, costly, and required businesses to tie up significant capital in advance.
By utilising stablecoins as a funding source, Visa Direct aims to accelerate global money movement, making it faster, more flexible, and more efficient, providing businesses with a modern solution for managing liquidity in an increasingly digital economy.
For decades, cross-border money transfers have been constrained by outdated infrastructure, forcing companies to maintain large pre-funded balances to meet future payment obligations. Visa’s new pilot intends to reduce this friction by testing stablecoins as a dynamic funding source, unlocking faster access to liquidity and providing financial institutions with greater flexibility in managing payouts.
Chris Newkirk, President of Visa’s Commercial & Money Movement Solutions, said: “Cross-border payments have been stuck in outdated systems for far too long. This new stablecoin integration allows money to move instantly across the world, giving businesses more choice in how they make payments.”
The stablecoin prefunding model is expected to bring several advantages. By using stablecoins instead of fiat currencies to cover payouts, companies can free up capital that would otherwise be locked in large reserve balances. This gives them greater flexibility to deploy funds elsewhere while ensuring payments remain fully covered.
Financial institutions will also benefit from the ability to transfer money in minutes, rather than days, which significantly improves liquidity management. Stablecoins further offer a consistent settlement layer, reducing exposure to currency fluctuations and stabilising treasury operations.
The pilot is designed to increase the frequency of prefunding without raising costs, creating a more cost-effective and efficient payment solution for businesses.
Visa’s stablecoin prefunding initiative targets banks, remittance providers, and financial institutions seeking faster and more flexible liquidity management tools. The pilot is currently being tested with a select group of partners, with plans for a broader rollout in 2026.
The programme builds on Visa’s broader efforts to modernise cross-border payments by combining the global scale and trust of its network with the transparency and speed of blockchain technology. Through these innovations, Visa aims to enhance the efficiency of global money movement, meeting the evolving needs of businesses and financial institutions in a digital-first economy.
Cross-border payments are fundamental to international trade and economic activity, according to the Financial Stability Board (FSB), which monitors and advises on the global financial system.
However, these payments have long faced four major challenges — high costs, slow processing speeds, limited access, and a lack of transparency. Addressing these issues by making international transfers faster, more affordable, and more inclusive could significantly boost global trade, economic growth, and financial inclusion.
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