Key Highlights
- Visa partners with Aquanow to expand stablecoin settlement using USDC across the CEMEA region.
- The collaboration aims to modernize payment rails by providing financial institutions with faster, 365-day settlements and reduced costs.
- The expansion builds on Visa’s 2023 pilot, which has reached a $2.5B annual run rate in stablecoin volume.
Visa, a digital payments leader, has announced an agreement with Aquanow as part of its effort to expand stablecoin settlements throughout the CEMEA region.
Announced today, the collaboration marks a step toward embedding approved stablecoins, such as USDC, into the core settlement processes of traditional finance.
The foundation of this expanded service is the technical integration of Aquanow’s digital asset infrastructure with Visa’s technology stack. This combination is designed to give Visa’s issuing and acquiring financial institutions the ability to settle transactions using approved stablecoins.
The transition seeks to make back-office operations more efficient, guaranteeing real benefits, such as reduced operational friction, lower costs, and faster settlement times for participants.
Godfrey Sullivan, Head of Product and Solutions for CEMEA at Visa, stated, “By harnessing the power of stablecoins and pairing them with our trusted global technology, we are enabling financial institutions in CEMEA to experience faster and simpler settlements.” He added, “Our partnership with Aquanow is another key step in modernizing the back-end rails of payments, reducing reliance on traditional systems with multiple intermediaries, and preparing institutions for the future of money movement.”
Phil Sham, CEO of Aquanow, talked about the vision, stating that “Visa’s reliable global network has long moved money securely and efficiently. Together, Visa and Aquanow are unlocking new ways for institutions to participate in the digital economy, leveraging stablecoin technology to settle with the speed and transparency of the internet.”
Visa’s expansion into stablecoins
The decision to expand stablecoin use follows earlier work by Visa. In 2023, the company was among the pioneers in using stablecoins for the settlement of transactions. It was also among the first significant payment networks to make a pilot system, allowing clients to meet their settlement obligations with USDC. Initial results from this pilot are strong, with Visa stating that the monthly volume of stablecoins now surpasses an annualized run rate of $2.5 billion.
The expansion is in response to the increasing demand for quicker, more affordable ways to transact across borders. Through the use of stablecoins, Visa is actively digitizing the money movement infrastructure backend in support of year-round, 365-day settlement capability, which is often challenging for legacy financial systems.
The plan for the collaboration
The initiative aims to accelerate the broad institutional adoption of digital assets for their core use in payments. Visa is deploying this capability across the CEMEA region to modernize the world’s payment rails and make them progressively less reliant on conventional, multi-intermediary systems.
The collaboration between Visa and Aquanow is a step in the maturing of stablecoins because it validates their role as a practical, efficient tool within mainstream financial infrastructure.
As the stablecoin settlement service continues to expand across the important and growing CEMEA region, Visa is active in leveraging the proven benefits of digital assets with a modern, high-speed solution for financial institutions, setting stablecoins very much into the future of the global payments landscape.
Also Read: Visa Rolls Out Pilot for Direct Stablecoin Payouts
