Visa Expands USDC Payment Capability with Solana Blockchain

Visa’s Support for USDC Payments on Ethereum and Solana Blockchains

Global payments processor Visa has rolled out support for USD Coin (USDC) payments settled on the Solana blockchain as part of its increasing stablecoin offering. Visa is currently performing live and completed pilots with issuers and acquirers, transferring millions of USDC tokens between partners across the Ethereum and Solana blockchains to settle fiat-based payments.

An announcement from the payments firm detailed the increasing adoption of USDC through pilots with Crypto.com, along with integrations with merchant payment processors Worldpay and Nuvei.

The integration of USDC issued on Ethereum and Solana into Visa’s ecosystem allows the former to leverage Visa’s treasury and settlement systems to bridge traditional finance with Web3. Visa’s head of crypto Cuy Sheffield noted that tapping into stablecoins USDC and blockchains like Ethereum and Solana can help improve the speed of cross-border settlement.

Visa and Crypto.com Collaborate for Cross-Border Payments

In 2021, Visa and Crypto.com partnered to test a stablecoin settlement system using Ethereum-based USDC. This pilot enabled Crypto.com to receive payments from Visa for its Australian card program cross-border volume. Previously, settlements for these purchases had taken multiple days and incurred wire transfer fees.

Crypto.com now utilizes USDC for its Australian Visa card settlement obligations, with Visa’s treasury-managed account with USDC issuer Circle facilitating the transfer of USDC across borders via the Ethereum blockchain. This reportedly reduces the time and complexity of international wire transfers.

Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire believes this partnership could revolutionize payments and commerce, citing it as a fundamental blockchain innovation.

Visa’s USDC Settlement Capability

Visa’s integration of USDC allows payment processors such as Worldpay and Nuvei to receive funds faster, connecting their traditional fiat ecosystem to the cryptocurrency space.

Jim Johnson, President of Worldpay Merchant Solutions, noted that the USDC settlement capability would provide merchants with more options for receiving funds and improved treasury operations.

In June 2023, Nabil Manji, head of crypto and web3 at Worldpay, discussed the company’s 2013 partnership with Coinbase, which enabled the exchange to be the first to accept card payments globally.

The development of web 3.0 has enabled the growth of cryptocurrency, and the differences between web 2.0 and web 3.0 are becoming increasingly apparent. Fetch.ai and Commerce.ai are two of the leading ai companies in the market, and C3.ai is one of the top stocks in the ai sector.

Discussing the most recent progress, Manji noted that Visa’s new USDC payment system is the initial step in allowing Worldpay’s customers to gain access to more cost-efficient and faster payments.

As reported by Cointelegraph before, Visa is looking into a solution to make Ethereum off-chain gas fees settlements with the help of aPaymaster smart contract. Such smart contracts are able to make payments for users and manage various transaction functions.