The global payments giant continues to build bridges between traditional finance and the rapidly evolving digital finance ecosystem.
Visa has expanded its stablecoin operations by incorporating the Solana blockchain for USDC (USD Coin) payments.
Visa recently announced that it has carried out successful pilot programs to facilitate the transfer of millions of USDC between partners across the Ethereum and Solana blockchains.
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It is worth noting that earlier partnerships had already seen Visa integrating USDC from Crypto.com, merchant payment processors Worldpay, and Nuvei.
The use of Solana and Ethereum blockchains enhances the speed of cross-border settlements, according to Cuy Sheffield, Visa's Head of Crypto. This integration paves the way for Visa's traditional treasury and settlement systems to connect seamlessly with Web3 capabilities.
Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s Co-founder and CEO, lauded the development, stating:
We are excited about the USDC use cases Visa and its partners are driving to create fundamental blockchain innovation. Expanding the pilot exemplifies how pairing USDC with Visa’s innovation opens up the future of payments, commerce and financial applications.
For payment processors like Worldpay and Nuvei, this opens up a faster and more streamlined settlement process. It offers the option to transfer funds more efficiently to the merchants they serve.
Worldpay's President of Merchant Solutions, Jim Johnson, emphasized the new settlement capabilities as transformative for merchants, enabling more choices in receiving funds and managing treasury operations.
Diversifying funding options and increasing flexibility is critical to serving the changing needs of global merchants in today’s rapidly evolving commerce landscape.
Visa is not stopping here. The company is also reportedly investigating off-chain gas fee settlements for Ethereum via Paymaster smart contracts.
Visa's integration of the Solana blockchain to support USDC payments marks another significant step in linking the worlds of traditional finance and digital assets. With this development, both payment processors and merchants could benefit from faster and more cost-effective settlement processes, thus fueling the growth of digital finance.
