Visa is integrating cryptocurrency into traditional payments through a new internal platform

Visa has launched its own platform, the Visa Stablecoin Platform, which will allow banks and fintech companies to use stablecoins within their existing payment infrastructure. The company expects to engage approximately 15,000 financial institutions and more than 200 million merchants from its global network in working with digital assets.

A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency whose value is backed by reserves and is typically pegged to the U.S. dollar at a 1:1 ratio. Unlike volatile cryptocurrencies, stablecoins are designed for stable transactions, which makes them more similar to traditional financial instruments.

Visa already processes several billion dollars in stablecoin transactions. In total, the company processes approximately $ 15 trillion in payments annually. The new platform is designed to simplify the integration of digital assets into customers' financial processes—from payments to cash flow management and banking operations.

According to Visa’s Head of Development, Rubail Birwadkar, the goal is not simply to provide access to stablecoins, but to ensure they integrate seamlessly into partners' payment systems and business processes. For merchants, this could mean nearly instantaneous transactions with minimal costs—all transactions are recorded on the blockchain as transparent and virtually immutable entries.

The first asset to be integrated into the new infrastructure will be OUSD—a stablecoin from the Open Standard consortium, created with the participation of major financial companies. In addition, Visa supports USDC from Circle and USDG from Paxos.

The company has been expanding its stablecoin offerings since 2020—when it became the first payment network to process transactions in USDC. In December, a separate program for stablecoin settlements was launched. Competitors are not far behind: Mastercard has introduced similar solutions for banks and payment companies, and American Express and Mastercard are also participating in initiatives related to OUSD.