Visa & Nium launch stablecoin pilot to speed cross-border payments

Visa has announced a partnership with Nium to pilot stablecoin settlement for cross-border payments. The arrangement allows Nium to use certain stablecoins, including Circle's USDC, for settlement obligations with Visa across supported blockchains.

Payment settlement

This collaboration allows Nium to fulfil its settlement obligations in near-real-time using stablecoins rather than traditional batch-based systems. Moving settlement processes onto blockchain is intended to reduce friction and costs, as well as address delays linked to time zones, weekends, and reconciliation processes. The initiative aims to unlock new use cases for digital money and accelerate international fund flows for issuers, acquirers, and fintech firms tied into Visa's network.

Operational impact

Nium will connect to Visa's stablecoin settlement pilot through its real-time cross-border infrastructure. This will provide its customers and partner fintechs access to faster digital settlement rails without requiring them to develop independent stablecoin systems. The pilot builds on a multi-year collaboration between Visa and Nium that has focused on improving the movement of money for enterprises and payment platforms operating globally.

Industry context

The use of stablecoins is gaining traction as financial institutions and payment networks seek faster clearing and settlement options. By offering a digital alternative to conventional rails, stablecoins can allow partners to bypass some of the limitations associated with clearing banks and regional settlement times. With more cross-border business activity happening outside traditional banking hours, the ability to process payments on a near-continuous basis is seen as increasingly relevant for global commerce.

Executive perspectives

"Nium's participating in the Visa pilot marks a new chapter for enterprise-grade money movement. Businesses have long been constrained by settlement cycles that move on the cadence of clearing schemes and banks, not on the cadence of global commerce. By settling with Visa via stablecoins, we're aligning payments to the speed of the internet, not the speed of traditional rails," said Alex Johnson, Chief Payments Officer, Nium.

Nischint Sanghavi, Head of Digital Currencies for Asia Pacific at Visa, said, "Stablecoins are increasingly becoming a critical tool in modern money movement. Our stablecoin settlement pilot is designed to give partners predictable settlement capabilities up to seven days per week, to keep pace with today's constantly evolving global commerce environment. We're excited to expand our collaboration with Nium to bring these new capabilities to more participants in the ecosystem."