Visa is expanding its partnership with Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin infrastructure platform, with plans to take the stablecoin-linked card program to more than 100 countries by the end of the year. The global issuance product, introduced in 2025, lets businesses and fintech developers issue Visa cards backed directly by stablecoin balances. Since launch, Bridge-enabled cards have gone live in 18 countries, and the next phase targets Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.
Stablecoin balances move directly into card spending
Cardholders can use stablecoin-backed balances at over 175 million merchant locations worldwide that accept Visa. Crypto wallet platforms including Phantom and MetaMask have already integrated the product. That setup allows users to pay for goods and services without first routing digital assets through an exchange for conversion before spending.
Visa starts using blockchain rails for settlement flows
The expansion also adds a settlement layer. Through Bridge’s partnership with Lead Bank, some card transactions can now be settled on-chain with Visa. Lead Bank had already been named in Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot, while Bridge supplies the infrastructure behind those blockchain-based flows. Visa said the pilot is examining whether stablecoins can serve as an alternative settlement route for issuers and acquirers, with the goal of improving fund movement and reconciliation while keeping those processes connected to Visa’s existing network.
Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, said the company is adapting to where financial activity is increasingly occurring. He said the broader Bridge collaboration lets Visa bring the speed and programmability of stablecoins into settlement operations directly.
Partnership may extend beyond issuance into wider payment use
Bridge co-founder and CEO Zach Abrams described the move as part of a broader push to help businesses bring custom stable assets into financial operations. He said the expanded relationship gives companies launching their own stablecoins a way to embed those assets inside card programs instead of depending only on conventional banking infrastructure. Visa also said it is evaluating future support for Bridge-issued assets in payment flows, pointing to potential expansion beyond card issuance into broader settlement use cases.
Visa and Bridge are building on both infrastructure and regulation
Visa’s stablecoin work already stretches beyond the Bridge card rollout. The company has started settling transactions with USDC on public blockchains, including Ethereum, and said its blockchain settlement testing has processed billions of dollars in annualized volume. On the issuance side, Dutch payments firm Quantoz recently secured principal membership with Visa, allowing it to issue Visa debit cards backed by regulated digital money tokens across Europe. That structure gives third-party fintech platforms a path to launch stablecoin-linked card programs under Visa’s framework.
Bridge is also moving on the regulatory front in the United States. The company has received conditional approval to organize a federally chartered national trust bank. If completed, that charter would allow Bridge to provide stable asset issuance, custody, and reserve management services under federal oversight.