Visa’s on-chain credit program targets card settlement gaps with Credit Coop
Visa on Sept. 8 unveiled an on-chain lending program designed to cover a recurring funding gap in card settlement for stablecoin-linked issuers. The structure uses Credit Coop’s revolving stablecoin credit lines, allowing participating institutions to draw funds to meet daily settlement obligations to Visa before cardholder repayments arrive. Those repayments then flow through Credit Coop’s Spigot contract, which automatically pays interest, replenishes the facility and releases any remainder to the borrower. Visa said the model has financed more than $2.5 billion in settlement volume since 2023 with zero defaults, and that higher lender participation has reduced borrowing costs by as much as 30%. The company also reported that stablecoin-linked card programs topped 160 in fiscal Q2 2026, payment volume rose nearly 200% year over year, and annualized stablecoin settlement volume recently exceeded $20 billion, more than 15 times the level a year earlier. Still, the disclosures leave major gaps. Visa said the underlying data came from Credit Coop, with on-chain event counts current as of Aug. 19, 2026, and noted that the zero-default status should be reconfirmed before publication. The company did not disclose outstanding principal, current exposure, lender concentration, detailed rate data, sample size, loss waterfalls, reserve structures or insurance arrangements. Public blockchain records show token movement, but Visa’s own settlement files remain central to underwriting and verification.
