Visa joins Singapore Project Bloom stablecoin pilot

Visa has joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore-led Project Bloom, with Nium as its first pilot partner in Singapore.

The project is examining how traditional payment systems can work with stablecoin-based settlement rails. Visa and Nium plan to test regulated stablecoins for settlement, including US dollar- and euro-denominated tokens.

Project Bloom, short for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency, is designed to expand settlement options for financial institutions. The initiative focuses on interoperability between existing payment networks and stablecoin systems, as regulators and payments companies assess whether digital settlement tools can fit within established financial safeguards.

Under the pilot, the companies will explore whether settlement can take place seven days a week, including weekends and public holidays. Payment settlement usually follows business-day schedules, which can delay financial institutions' access to funds.

That matters in cross-border payments, where timing gaps can affect treasury operations, liquidity management and the speed at which businesses receive money. A shift to continuous settlement could change how institutions manage working capital and reconcile transfers across markets.

Singapore has become a key testing ground for this work as policymakers and financial firms seek ways to connect digital assets with mainstream financial infrastructure. The city-state's central bank has backed several industry experiments to assess how tokenised money and regulated digital instruments could be used within conventional payment and settlement systems.

For Visa, the move places one of the world's largest card and payments networks inside a regulatory initiative focused directly on stablecoin interoperability. It also shows how major incumbents are trying to shape the rules and operating models for digital settlement rather than leaving that work solely to crypto-native firms.

Nium's role puts the Singapore-founded fintech at the centre of the pilot. The company recently expanded its US activities by launching domestic card issuance, adding to a business that already issues more than 41 million card credentials a year across markets including Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the UK and Europe.

Nium's existing card and cross-border payments operations mean the trial links a digital asset settlement experiment with a firm that already manages payment flows across multiple regions. That could give the project a practical way to test how stablecoin settlement interacts with established issuing and money movement systems.

Industry test

The pilot will focus on regulated stablecoins backed by major currencies. That emphasis reflects a broader trend in policy and industry discussions, where interest has shifted towards instruments designed to maintain a stable value and operate within compliance standards familiar to financial institutions.

Supporters argue that such tokens could reduce settlement frictions, especially outside standard banking hours. Critics, however, continue to question how interoperability, redemption, supervision and operational resilience would work at scale, particularly where digital and traditional payment rails intersect.

Visa said the work is intended to explore complementarity rather than replacement. It framed the pilot as part of a broader effort to examine how different forms of money might be used together depending on the use case.

The project comes as stablecoins draw greater scrutiny from central banks, regulators and payment groups in Asia, Europe and the US. Much of that interest centres on whether these instruments can improve settlement speed and availability without weakening trust in payment systems.

"The future of payments will be shaped by how different forms of money and payment networks work together for different use cases," said Adeline Kim, Group Country Manager for Regional Southeast Asia and SVP, Global Clients & Acquirers, Asia Pacific, Visa.

"Through BLOOM and our pilot with Nium in Singapore, we are exploring how stablecoins can complement existing payment infrastructure, enabling greater flexibility in settlement while preserving the security, resilience and compliance standards that underpin global commerce. As digital payments continue to evolve, interoperability will be critical to delivering meaningful value across the financial ecosystem," said Kim.

Nium described the project as part of a broader convergence between traditional and digital payment rails. It said the test would help define how payment infrastructure in the region develops.

"This pilot with Visa under BLOOM is a meaningful step in our partnership to shape the next phase of payments in the region," said Amaresh Mohan, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, Nium.

"We're building foundational infrastructure for seamless interoperability between traditional and stablecoin-based rails. This convergence is not only inevitable, it's essential. By bringing together the security and trust of established payment networks with the efficiency and programmability of digital currencies, we unlock real value for financial institutions and their customers. BLOOM demonstrates that innovation and compliance advance together," said Mohan.