‘Same-Day Cross-Border Transfers’... Stablecoin Integrated into Visa Direct [Crypto Briefing]

[Financial News] Global payments technology company Visa will begin a phased pilot of a stablecoin-based settlement system on its remittance solution, Visa Direct, as early as the first half of this year. Last December, Visa established a USD Coin (USDC) settlement system in the United States, enabling select financial institutions to settle and pay Visa directly in USDC. Now, the company is expanding its blockchain infrastructure to its global remittance network. This move is expected to address issues of time delays and currency exchange costs that have long plagued traditional international remittance and settlement processes.
According to the financial investment industry and foreign media on the 6th, Visa is conducting preliminary tests with select partners to launch a stablecoin pilot based on Visa Direct. Visa Direct is a large-scale payment network connecting approximately 3.5 billion bank accounts, 4 billion cards, and 3.5 billion digital wallets worldwide.
The core of Visa’s latest initiative is ‘liquidity optimization.’ In traditional international payment systems, time zone differences and banking business days typically result in transfers taking two to three days, with even longer waits on holidays. Multinational companies, in particular, have had to lock up liquidity by pre-funding local currency accounts at overseas banks to pay partners or employees during weekends or holidays. Through the pilot, Visa is testing a structure where companies can pre-load Visa Direct with stablecoins or request remittances in fiat currency, allowing recipients to receive USDC or other dollar stablecoins directly into their digital wallets.
This is expected to benefit digital creators such as YouTubers, platform-based gig workers, and freelancers. The service is being designed primarily for holders of stablecoin wallets that meet Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements.
Kim Ji-won, analyst at KB Securities, commented, “This Visa pilot leverages the 24/7 nature of blockchain to reduce collateral deposits and settlement wait times required by traditional banking networks. For example, global platform companies like Uber Technologies, Inc. can experiment with reducing local currency exchange burdens and enabling near real-time settlements when paying drivers worldwide.”
Visa’s key partner for this initiative is Circle’s USDC, which is issued and circulated on the Solana blockchain. Last December, Visa announced that Cross River Bank and Lead Bank in the United States had begun settling directly with Visa using Solana-based USDC, completing technical validation of its blockchain-based settlement infrastructure. According to Solana’s on-chain data and internal reports, the network’s annual revenue is estimated at around $1.5 billion, highlighting its competitive edge as a payment infrastructure.
Visa also plans to expand its integration with Arc, Circle’s upcoming enterprise blockchain infrastructure. This will pave the way for broader stablecoin settlement and remittance services for businesses and financial institutions.
An industry official stated, “With the U.S. Congress resuming discussions on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (CLARITY Act of 2025), regulatory uncertainty is beginning to clear. We expect a surge in efforts by traditional financial institutions to adopt stablecoins as a payment method starting this year.”

elikim@fnnews.com Kim Mi-hee Reporter