Visa Builds Stablecoin Advisory Arm for Cross-Border and B2B Payments

• Visa launches stablecoins advisory arm to guide banks and merchants through strategy design and deployment.
• Growing regulation clarity and rising volumes push Visa deeper into stablecoin payments and cross-border settlement.

Visa launched a new stablecoin advisory service division under its consulting business to assist banks, fintech companies, merchants, and enterprises in understanding and adopting stablecoin solutions. The launch comes during a time of growth in the digital asset sector, with the market capitalization of stablecoins rising above $300 billion.

This advisory arm will provide market insights, training, strategic advice, technical evaluations, and support to organizations exploring the use of stablecoins in payments and settlement processes. It operates under Visa Consulting & Analytics, which supports financial institutions and businesses in adapting to emerging payment technologies.

Carl Rutstein, who leads Visa Consulting and Analytics globally, explained the company’s approach:

Visa Expands Stablecoin Settlements to 130+ Programs

Visa’s interest in stablecoins is not new. In 2023, the company started processing payments in USDC and is now operating with over 130 card programs linked to stablecoins in 40 countries. By November 30, these initiatives were processing settlements at an annualized pace of $3.5 billion.

The company is also testing cross-border payments with stablecoins via its Visa Direct service. The setup enables pre-funded transfers to go straight to users’ stablecoin wallets, with the goal of faster and simpler international business payments.

Visa confirmed that early participants in its advisory program include Navy Federal Credit Union, Pathward, and VyStar Credit Union. Navy Federal is reviewing how stablecoins might be integrated into its payment services for its 15 million members worldwide. Rutstein added,

Regulation and Banks Accelerate Stablecoin Growth

Large financial institutions are gradually adopting similar models. Companies such as JPMorgan have rolled out tokenized deposit systems to speed up settlement, while Stripe and similar firms are adding stablecoins to their offerings. These steps are aimed at improving the speed and lowering the cost of payments, especially across borders.

Legal support has added to this trend. The GENIUS Act, signed in July, introduced a formal framework for stablecoin issuance and supervision in the U.S. This legal structure has made financial firms more confident in exploring stablecoin-based applications.

Longer-term projections point to major expansion. Standard Chartered forecasts that the stablecoin market could reach $2 trillion by 2028. Citi estimates the total could hit $1.9 trillion by 2030 in its base projection, and even up to $4 trillion in a more optimistic case.