VISA Working to Bolster Stablecoin-Enabled Cross-Border Settlements 

VISA, one of the world’s most popular payment processors and manufacturers of credit cards, is standing by its cryptocurrency strategy as it looks to bolster its inroads into the industry this year. 

Tapping Into a Growing Field 

Speaking at the StarkWare Sessions 2023 in Tel Aviv over the weekend, Cuy Sheffield, the payment giant’s head of crypto, explained that they plan to build “muscle memory” around payments, with a special focus on improving the ease with which their customers can move between fiat currencies and digital assets. 

As Sheffield pointed out, VISA is especially focused on providing seamless global settlements with digital assets and fiat currencies. As they see it, people would be able to move between digital tokenized assets and fiat currencies just as easily as they move between one fiat currency and another when engaging in cross-border transactions. 

Sheffield added that VISA has already begun testing settlement payment processing for USDC on the Ethereum blockchain. They see massive opportunities in crypto-enabled settlements and have also been exploring the infusion of blockchain technology into their existing money network to help optimize the speed of money transfers. 

Although the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) system has remained the standard for cross-border transactions, VISA is aware of the network’s limitations. They believe that stablecoins could help provide a possible solution to these issues, enabling faster and more reliable cross-border transfers for the growing population. 

VISA has continued to tout the efficiency of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets for optimizing global payments across the board. Speaking on a call at the company’s virtual shareholder meeting last month, recently-outgone company chief executive Al Kelly explained that the company is looking to incorporate stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) going forward. 

As Kelly explained, the company believes that stablecoins and CBDCs have the potential to transform the global payments space. They already have several investments in crypto funds and companies that are looking to bring this revolution to life and will also continue working to support countries looking to launch their own private CBDCs.  

Payment Giants Scramble to Embrace Crypto 

Of course, VISA isn’t the only payment processor moving quickly to adopt cryptocurrencies and digital asset payments. Over the past few years, several other industry giants – including Mastercard, PayPal, and more, have continued to embrace crypto and expand their support for the industry in what is becoming an ever-growing trend. 

The move appears to continue as payment companies keep seeing the writing on the wall. Stablecoins and cryptocurrencies are growing significantly in their appeal to everyday users, with more people embracing them across the board. And even with the downturn that gripped the crypto market in 2022, stablecoins have continued to play an important role in the global payments space. 

Last December, Peter Johnson, co-head of the venture at Brevan Howard Digital, shared Cloin Metrics data which showed that on-chain stablecoins settlements hit over $7 trillion in 2022 alone, a number that is expected to hit over $8 trillion this year. VISA, the largest debit card network on the planet, processes about $12 trillion annually.

3/ (Note that this is just on-chain settlement volume, and does not include trading volume on centralized exchanges)

— Peter Johnson (@TheChicagoVC) December 21, 2022

It is especially interesting that even with the murkiness surrounding digital assets and regulations, stablecoin usage has continued to grow. This trend shows no signs of slowing down, with the market and investor interest expected to grow. Traditional payment processors understand this and are working significantly to embrace the market to capture this growing segment.