Visa Taps Onchain Lending to Finance Stablecoin Card Programs

In brief

• Visa is using settlement data to help lenders evaluate financing for stablecoin-linked card programs.
• Its stablecoin settlement volume has exceeded a $20 billion annualized rate, according to the company.
• Visa says an early financing model involving Credit Coop has supported more than $2.5 billion in settlement volume since 2023.

Global payment processing giant Visa is combining payment network data with blockchain lending tools to help stablecoin-linked card programs and fintechs borrow working capital.

Announced on Tuesday, Visa said lenders can use VisaNet settlement data alongside blockchain transaction records to assess a payment business’s performance and determine financing terms.

“We're seeing how trusted payment data and onchain technologies can work together to unlock new forms of liquidity, helping businesses access capital in ways that are more transparent, programmable and aligned to the speed of modern commerce,” Rubail Birwadker, Visa’s global head of growth products and partnerships, said in a statement.

According to Birwadker, stablecoins are changing how money moves and creating opportunities to redesign the infrastructure behind payments. Visa said onchain lending protocols have processed more than $694 billion in stablecoin loans since 2020, citing its analytics dashboard.