SAN FRANCISCO, March 5, 2026, 16:12 (PST)
Visa Inc (V.N) is ramping up its collaboration with Stripe’s stablecoin platform, Bridge, aiming to roll out stablecoin-linked Visa cards in over 100 countries spanning Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East by year’s end. These cards are already operational in 18 markets, allowing users to tap stablecoin balances at more than 175 million Visa-accepting merchants. Some transactions even settle “on-chain” via Bridge’s partner, Lead Bank, according to the companies. Financial IT
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies built for price stability, usually locked to the U.S. dollar at a 1:1 ratio. Visa is offering wallets a recognizable spending method for these tokens as it experiments with blockchain settlement to see if it can accelerate money transfers under the hood.
The push zeroes in on settlement, that critical moment when banks tied to a card transaction finalize who pays what. Here, “on-chain” settlement refers to moving that process onto a blockchain ledger, ditching the usual back-office routines for reconciliation.
Visa’s crypto lead Cuy Sheffield says the move is intended to “bring the speed, transparency and programmability of stablecoins directly into the settlement process.” Bridge chief executive and co-founder Zach Abrams describes the goal as letting companies “own their own financial stack.” Visa is also looking at possible future payment flows that could include support for assets issued by Bridge. Fintech Singapore
Visa is running a stablecoin settlement pilot that enables issuers and acquirers—banks serving cardholders and merchants—to settle transactions with Visa via stablecoins on certain blockchain networks. Lead Bank has joined the initiative. The project aims to find out if on-chain reconciliation can accelerate fund flows and streamline operations. For now, Visa is considering fresh settlement options, but hasn’t committed to a timeline.
Mastercard isn’t sitting out the stablecoin race. On Tuesday, the payments giant and SoFi unveiled a tie-up allowing SoFiUSD—the fintech’s stablecoin—to be used for settlement right across Mastercard’s network. Sherri Haymond, an executive at Mastercard, framed the agreement as a move to enable “trusted digital currencies” to operate “at global scale.” Payments Dive
Visa slipped 0.25% to $319.80 late in the U.S. session. Mastercard, on the other hand, edged 0.27% higher at $524.66.
Reuters reported last year that Visa and Bridge rolled out stablecoin-linked cards in a handful of Latin American countries, letting customers spend stablecoins while merchants receive fiat. Stripe picked up Bridge in 2025.
Still, these stablecoin-linked cards depend on regulators and banks approving the nuts and bolts: token issuance, custody, and anti-money-laundering checks. If a token slips its dollar peg—or if wallet providers get slapped with stricter rules—the rollout could stall, and scaling up settlement pilots gets tougher.
Visa still considers stablecoins a minor part of its overall operations. Back in January, Sheffield told Reuters that annualised stablecoin settlements on the Visa network were coming in at roughly $4.5 billion. That figure sits in stark contrast to the $14.2 trillion in payments the company processed last year.
