Visa and Lloyds pilot stablecoin settlement for cross-border payments

Visa and Lloyds Banking Group have completed a live cross-border stablecoin settlement pilot using USDC purchased via Archax.

The test concentrated on settlement, the process through which financial institutions exchange funds to complete and reconcile payment activity, rather than on how payments are made. Through a series of real-world transactions, the two companies assessed how stablecoins could operate alongside existing settlement processes and measured the effect on speed, transparency, and operations.

How the pilot was structured

Lloyds purchased the USDC used in the pilot through Archax, a UK-regulated digital asset exchange. The settlement volume was booked through Lloyds' Corporate Markets branch in Jersey and then transferred to Visa in the US.

The pilot also tested settlement across private and public blockchain environments. Lloyds operated its own node on Canton, using the network's configurable privacy features, while Visa supported settlement on a separate public blockchain. The companies said this demonstrated interoperability between the two networks. They argued that interoperability matters because liquidity and activity increasingly span multiple chains, and institutions need access to different networks without losing reach or flexibility. In addition, Visa described its role as reducing the complexity of stablecoin settlement for institutions exploring new payment capabilities through its network.