Visa’s stablecoin settlement breaks through $20 billion, up more than 15x year over year
Payment giant Visa continues to expand its stablecoin business footprint. On September 8, Visa announced that it will combine VisaNet settlement data with on-chain lending infrastructure to help issuers of stablecoin-linked cards and fintech companies obtain operating capital, reducing the funding pressure that emerging payment providers face at the initial stage of card issuance.
Behind this expansion is the rapid growth of Visa’s stablecoin business. Visa said that the annualized scale of stablecoin settlement volume has surpassed $20 billion, increasing more than 15 times compared with the same period last year.
As of Visa’s FY2026 Q2, more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs are operating on the Visa network worldwide, with related payment volume up nearly 200% compared with the same period last year. In April this year, the stablecoin settlement annualized volume disclosed by Visa was still about $7 billion; in just a few months, it has already surpassed $20 billion.
As card issuance and payment volumes rapidly expand, issuers also face new working-capital problems. After cardholders swipe their cards, issuers typically need to prepare funds in advance to meet Visa’s daily settlement obligations, and only afterward do they gradually receive cardholder payments. For fintech companies formed more recently, this time gap can create operational working-capital needs of several million dollars.
Open VisaNet settlement data to help on-chain lenders assess the credit of card issuers
Visa’s latest solution brings its own payment data into the on-chain credit market. With customer authorization, lenders can combine VisaNet settlement data with blockchain transaction records to understand the real operating situation and receivables status of the card program, and then evaluate creditworthiness and provide funding accordingly.
Some early-stage stablecoin card issuers find it difficult to obtain funds through traditional financing models. Bank credit lines may take months to negotiate, and they may also require collateral backed by company assets. Large-scale securitized financing is typically more suitable for mature players with hundreds of millions of dollars in receivables.
On the other hand, stablecoin-linked card programs must process payments and fund flows around the clock throughout the year. Traditional bank financing is still constrained by business hours, and especially between Friday afternoons and early Monday mornings, there may be a gap in fund scheduling.
Visa wants to improve on-chain lending institutions’ understanding of card issuers’ operating conditions through settlement data. As more lending institutions begin to offer this kind of financing, some borrowers’ financing costs in the program have dropped by up to 30%.
Credit Coop automatically provides funding; cumulative financing exceeds $2.5 billion
Visa has partnered with the on-chain credit platform Credit Coop to test this model. Credit Coop sets up revolving credit facilities denominated in stablecoins and uses the card issuer’s settlement receivables as collateral. It then determines the actual financing amount using the settlement data provided daily by Visa.
When card issuers need to fulfill their Visa settlement obligations, the system can automatically disburse funds via smart contracts. After cardholder payments are gradually recovered, the funds are automatically used to pay interest and top up credit limits, creating a continuous revolving capital mechanism.
Visa states that since 2023, Credit Coop has cumulatively provided more than $2.5 billion in settlement financing through this model, completing over 3,000 on-chain borrowings and 9,000 repayments. So far, the financing limits involved have not seen any defaults.
Among them, Visa Principal Member Rain began using Credit Coop’s revolving credit facility to pay daily Visa settlement amounts starting in August 2023. To date, the cumulative financing scale is about $2 billion, with over 2,000 on-chain borrowings and 7,000 repayments completed.
On-chain lending is moving toward payment scenarios, as the stablecoin card segment continues to expand
Visa said that since 2020, on-chain lending agreements have processed more than $694 billion in stablecoin-denominated loans, with a large volume of capital activity concentrated in the cryptocurrency market. By connecting VisaNet settlement data to on-chain credit this time, the related funds can further flow into card issuance and everyday payment services.
Real-world cases have started to emerge. U.S. travel credit card company Karta obtained financing early through Credit Coop and expanded its business. After 10x growth in 2025, in June of this year it completed a total $140 million in financing, including a $15 million Series A led by Galaxy Ventures and an institutional credit facility of $125 million provided by Community Investment Management.
In recent years, Visa has also continued to expand its stablecoin infrastructure. This April, Visa increased the scope of stablecoin settlement support to 9 blockchain networks. At that time, the annualized settlement volume was about $7 billion; it has now surpassed $20 billion.
Globally, more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs are already in operation. Next, Visa will use on-chain credit to help card issuers meet their working capital needs, enabling more early-stage fintech companies to expand their card issuance scale.
“Visa Stablecoin Settlement Breaks Through 2 Billion USD! Opens On-Chain Clearing Data, Boosting Crypto Card Issuance” — this article was first published on “Crypto City”