Visa Direct Puts Stablecoins to Work in Global Payment Pilot

TLDR:

• Visa Direct has introduced a pilot using stablecoin prefunding to streamline global payments and reduce capital lockups.
• Businesses can now pre-fund with stablecoins, enabling faster liquidity while maintaining coverage for international payouts.
• The pilot aims to cut settlement delays, freeing companies from parking fiat balances days before transactions.
• Visa plans to expand the stablecoin program in 2026 after testing with select banks and financial institutions.
  

Cross-border payments have long relied on outdated systems. They are often slow, expensive, and tie up company funds before transfers. 

Businesses have struggled with frozen liquidity, unable to move cash quickly when needed. That reality could shift as Visa begins testing stablecoins as a new funding source. 

The company announced the launch of a prefunding pilot at SIBOS 2025, signaling its direct move to test stablecoins as a cash alternative.

Visa said the pilot is being rolled out through its Visa Direct platform, according to a September 30 release shared on Business Wire. The initiative introduces stablecoin prefunding to global transactions, designed to improve flexibility and cut settlement delays. 

By allowing companies to pre-fund with stablecoins instead of fiat, Visa intends to reduce the friction that comes with traditional treasury operations.

Stablecoin Pilot to Unlock Liquidity

In its announcement, Visa described stablecoin prefunding as a way to keep capital active rather than sitting idle. 

Businesses that pre-fund with stablecoins gain faster access to working liquidity while still ensuring their global payouts are covered. This model, according to the company, makes treasury management more dynamic and responsive.

The pilot applies directly to banks, remitters, and financial institutions that frequently process cross-border flows. These groups often deal with high transaction volumes and face challenges with settlement times and currency volatility. Using stablecoins as a predictable settlement layer could reduce those risks.

Visa said the integration also helps shield treasury operations from swings in local exchange rates. Stablecoins offer consistent value, which helps stabilize settlements and makes cross-border cash flow easier to predict. For companies moving money in multiple markets, that consistency is a practical advantage.

The company is currently working with select partners that meet pilot requirements. Broader rollout is planned for 2026, once testing confirms performance and compliance outcomes. Until then, the focus remains on ensuring stablecoins can work as reliable prefunding assets.

Visa Direct’s Push Into Digital Payments

The pilot builds on Visa Direct’s wider push to modernize international transfers for the digital-first economy. 

For decades, moving money across borders has meant prefunding fiat accounts days in advance. That ties up capital, leaving businesses with less flexibility to handle new expenses.

Chris Newkirk, President of Commercial & Money Movement Solutions at Visa, said the pilot is about moving money instantly and giving businesses more choice. He described existing systems as outdated and said the goal is to create faster ways to pay globally.

Visa also highlighted its broader strategy of pairing blockchain programmability with its existing global payment scale. The company said it continues to partner with leading providers to make prefunding use cases more practical. That approach could place Visa in a central role as stablecoins gain traction in financial operations.

The testing phase marks a cautious but direct step into stablecoin adoption by one of the largest payment networks. If successful, the prefunding model could reshape how businesses manage cross-border payouts in the coming years.

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