Global payments processor Visa has launched support for U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC) payments settled on the Solana blockchain as its stablecoin offering begins to expand.
Visa revealed that it is conducting live and completed pilots with issuers and acquirers, transferring millions of dollars in USDC between partners on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains to settle fiat-based payments.
Announcement from payment company contour Visa’s adoption of USDC has evolved, from a pilot involving Crypto.com to integrations with merchant payment processors Worldpay and Nuvei.
Bringing USDC issued on Ethereum and Solana into Visa’s ecosystem means the former can leverage Visa’s treasury and settlement systems to bridge traditional finance with Web3. Cuy Sheffield, head of cryptocurrency at Visa, added that utilizing the stablecoin USDC and blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana can help increase the speed of cross-border settlements.
1/ We are pleased to announce that Visa has expanded our stablecoin settlement capabilities to merchant acquirers and launched a pilot @Worldpay_Global and @Nuvei Leveraging the Solana Blockchainhttps://t.co/E0TjMO5xiH
— Cuy Sheffield (@cuysheffield) September 5, 2023
Visa began to cooperate with Crypto.com in 2021 to try to use USDC to test stable currency settlement on the issue side. The resulting pilot utilizes Ethereum-based USDC to receive payments from Crypto.com for cross-border transaction volume for its Australian card program.
Previously, settlement for cross-border purchases using the Crypto.com Visa Card required a multi-day currency conversion process and wire transfer fees. As a result, the cryptocurrency exchange now uses USDC to fulfill settlement obligations for its Australian Visa cards.
related: Visa Explores Card Payments for Crypto Gas Fees
Crypto.com also uses USD Coin issuer Circle’s Visa Treasury Management account to send USDC across borders on the Ethereum blockchain, which reportedly reduces the length and complexity of international wire transfers.
Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said the partnership marks a fundamental blockchain innovation that could transform payments and commerce:
“Circle built USDC to provide a functional digital dollar that can move at the speed of the internet to facilitate safe, secure payments.”
The USDC integration also allows Visa to send funds to USDC acquirers, including Worldpay and Nuvei, which is expected to reduce settlement times for merchants using its services.
Payment processors are then able to send USDC payments to the merchants they serve, connecting Visa’s traditional fiat ecosystem with stablecoins and the broader cryptocurrency space they serve.
Jim Johnson, president of Merchant Solutions at Worldpay, said Visa’s USDC settlement capabilities will enable it to provide merchants with more options for receiving funds and better manage their treasury operations.
In a conversation with Cointelegraph during Money20/20 in Amsterdam in June 2023, Nabil Manji, Head of Crypto and Web3 at Worldpay, outlined how the company partnered with Coinbase in 2013, making the exchange the first to accept Exchange global payments for fiat cards.
Commenting on the latest developments, Manji said Visa’s new USDC settlement service is the first step in giving Worldpay’s customers faster and more cost-effective settlement of consumer payments.
“It opens the door to exploring future enhancements such as 24/7/365 settlement availability and real-time or multiple daily settlements, all of which can help accelerate cross-border trade.”
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Visa has begun exploring a solution for off-chain gas settlement for Ethereum using the Paymaster smart contract. These types of smart contracts are able to pay users and execute logic for various transaction functions.
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