Visa has launched select Visa Direct pilots with UK-based stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK, allowing some enterprise clients to pre-fund cross-border payouts in stablecoins and send digital U.S. dollars straight to recipient wallets. The live pilots are running in selected markets and are aimed at business payment flows where speed, availability, and settlement certainty carry more weight than card-based consumer use.
The program sits closer to treasury and payout operations than to retail payments. Visa had already tested onchain settlement with USDC on networks including Ethereum and Solana; this new phase pushes the model beyond inter-institution settlement and toward final delivery, where funds land in a recipient’s wallet instead of stopping on an institutional balance sheet.
Enterprise payout corridors are the main focus
Visa executives described the work as part of a longer effort to modernize money movement using rails that can operate outside traditional banking hours. For businesses handling cross-border disbursements, a stablecoin pre-funding model could reduce dependence on correspondent banking chains that often take several days and remain tied to bank cut-off windows.
BVNK said the initiative was awarded through a competitive tender process and that the company was selected after proving strongest among rival providers. At this stage, the pilots involve only a limited group of Visa Direct enterprise clients in high-demand corridors. Any broader rollout, according to BVNK, will depend on regulatory approval and customer demand, with possible expansion to additional currencies, stablecoins, and payout routes.
The partnership builds on existing financial ties
This is not a one-off collaboration. Visa Ventures made a strategic investment in BVNK in May 2025, and Citi Ventures also took a stake in October 2025. That sequence matters. It shows that large financial institutions are putting attention on stablecoin infrastructure providers rather than limiting their exposure to consumer-facing crypto products.
BVNK has continued to build enterprise tools around compliance, wallet controls, and settlement logic. The company had drawn wider market attention in late 2024, when it and Coinbase mutually agreed not to proceed with a proposed $2 billion acquisition after due diligence. Since then, BVNK has stayed focused on enterprise infrastructure instead of moving toward retail, positioning itself as a layer that lets large clients use stablecoins without taking on the full operational burden directly.
Stablecoins are moving deeper into payment rails
Visa’s latest pilots add to a broader shift in global payments. Stablecoins are no longer being treated only as tools for crypto-native settlement tests; they are being evaluated as programmable dollars that can sit beside existing treasury systems and support working capital for cross-border disbursements. Other established players, including SWIFT, MoneyGram, and Western Union, have also tested or rolled out stablecoin-linked services.
Market data helps explain the push. The European Central Bank’s Financial Stability Review put global stablecoin market capitalization at about $280 billion by late 2025. The International Monetary Fund estimated annual stablecoin transaction volume in the $3 trillion to $4 trillion range, driven largely by trading activity and cross-border payments. A joint report from Artemis and Dune found that active stablecoin wallets rose by more than 50% between February 2024 and February 2025.
Regulation remains the limiting factor
The pilots are unfolding while rules are still taking shape. European authorities have acknowledged payment-efficiency gains from stablecoins while continuing to warn about spillover risks to banks if usage scales sharply. In the United States, lawmakers are still debating market-structure legislation, including the CLARITY Act and proposals tied to stablecoin rewards.
BVNK said stablecoin payouts through Visa Direct are restricted to compliant wallets and counterparties, and that the design is intended to align with current and emerging frameworks, including the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation as well as relevant UK and U.S. rules.