Visa stablecoin card payments surge 200% in one year

Visa stablecoin-related card payments increased by nearly 200% year-on-year.

Visa recently reported that the payment volume of its stablecoin-related card projects achieved a year-on-year increase of nearly 200%. Currently, more than 160 stablecoin-related card projects for consumers and businesses are in operation around the world.

Overview of key data

• Strong payment growth: Visa said that payments on stablecoin-linked cards in its network increased by nearly 200% year-on-year.
• Market size expands: There are more than 160 stablecoin-related Visa card projects in operation in global consumer, corporate and commercial markets.
• Increased corporate share: During fiscal year 2026, corporate and commercial projects accounted for approximately 17% of total payments on Visa stablecoin-linked cards.
• Breakthrough in settlement scale: Visa pointed out that its global stablecoin settlement volume has recently exceeded the annualized operating rate of US$20 billion.
• Overall industry estimates: Allium estimates that as of August 2026, total global stablecoin payments will range from US$401 billion to US$527 billion.

Enterprise and business applications become new growth points

Visa disclosed on October 1 that in the fiscal year 2026 to date, approximately 17% of stablecoin-related card payments come from corporate and commercial card projects. This data is based on VisaNet system data and its internal classification standards for corporate and commercial cards. Although Visa has not announced the specific total value of the US dollar that supports this nearly 200% increase, it has previously revealed that stablecoin settlement activity has reached an annualized level of US$20 billion, an increase of more than 15 times compared with the same period last year.

It is worth noting that payment transaction volume on cards and settlement volume between Visa and participating institutions measure different links of the network. With business and commercial card projects now accounting for approximately 17% of payments, the penetration of stablecoins in enterprise-level applications is gradually increasing.

More than 160 projects cover multiple categories of people

Currently, there are more than 160 stablecoin-related card projects operating on the Visa network, covering consumers, businesses and commercial products. Visa disclosed this number for the first time in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 and reconfirmed it in its latest business payments update.

stablecoin-linked cards allow customers to consume the value stored in stablecoins while using existing Visa payment infrastructure. Depending on the specific project, these digital assets can be used to recharge card balances or support settlement behind the transaction, while merchants continue to receive payments through the normal bank card channel.

In addition to traditional cryptocurrency trading platforms, card adoption rates also continue to expand. In March this year, Visa and Stripe's Bridge announced that stablecoin cards driven by Bridge technology have been launched in 18 countries and plan to expand availability to more than 100 countries by the end of 2026. Visa said the cards can be used in more than 175 million merchant locations.

Why do companies favor stablecoins?

According to VisaNet data on October 1, corporate and commercial projects have generated approximately 17% of stablecoin-related card payments so far in fiscal year 2026. Visa did not disclose the proportion of the project in the previous fiscal year.

Mark Nelsen, global head of product, business and money mobility solutions for Visa, said that more and more companies are starting to consider using stablecoins for supplier payments, money management and cross-border commerce. "Companies are not looking for new payment technologies for innovation, but want to find 'credible and reliable' ways to transfer money," Nelsen pointed out. He emphasized that stablecoins are increasingly entering the discussion of actual commercial payments.

To this end, Visa is expanding related services. Its Visa Direct stablecoin work allows eligible companies and financial institutions to use stablecoin in cross-border payment financing and send payments to stablecoin wallets under certain circumstances. Visa explained in February that the stablecoin prepayment feature allows Visa Direct customers to finance cross-border payments without relying on traditional fiat accounts and normal bank hours. The system can operate in parallel with existing payment methods.

In addition, the company also separately tested direct stablecoin payments for creators, gig economic workers and other recipients. Under this setting, U.S. businesses can fund payments through Visa Direct, while eligible recipients can choose to receive dollar-denominated stablecoins (such as USDC) in supported wallets.

Estimates of global stablecoin payments in 2026

To demonstrate how commercial stablecoin payments can develop outside of card programs, Visa cited Allium's research data. Allium estimated in a September report that global stablecoin payments would reach US$401 billion to US$527 billion in the first eight months of 2026. Conservative estimates show a year-on-year growth of 42%, while a higher valuation method shows a growth rate of as high as 63%.

Allium's research distinguishes "payments" from the large number of stablecoins that flow between different exchanges, decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, transaction accounts, and blockchain infrastructure. Allium estimates that from January to August, total stablecoin transfers were US$85 trillion, but only US$4 trillion was classified as economic activity after excluding internal transfers, routing activities, robot operations and other non-economic activities.

Payments accounted for 13% of these adjusted economic activity. Among them, transactions still accounted for the largest category (69%), and stored value transfers accounted for 13%. In terms of payment channels, B2B transactions are the largest sector, with an estimated amount of US$137 billion to US$153 billion; service fee payments are US$56 billion, salary payments are US$43 billion, supplier payments are US$28 billion, and consumer retail purchases total approximately US$19 billion.

跨境使用在B2B转账中尤为突出。Allium发现，43%的可识别地理位置的B2B支付量跨越了国界，这是其所研究支付类别中最高的跨境比例。

需要指出的是，Allium的数据是基于区块链数据和交易分类的研究估算值，并非Visa的交易总量。因此，Visa公布的17%商业卡数据不应直接与Allium对整体稳定币支付市场的估算进行对比。

Visa构建更多稳定币支付工具

Visa目前的稳定币业务涵盖卡片、结算、付款、融资以及金融机构的基础设施。

Visa稳定币平台： 今年7月，Visa推出了Visa稳定币平台，这是一个面向银行、金融科技公司及加密企业的企业级产品。该平台初期支持Open USD，并提供在Visa管理环境中持有、转移、铸造和赎回稳定币的工具。该服务包含钱包基础设施和控制措施，旨在帮助那些不想自行构建完整区块链系统的金融机构获得稳定币能力。在初始推出阶段，访问权限仅限于选定的参与者。

结算与融资创新：Visa一直在独立开发结算侧的业务。其网络允许选定的发卡行和收单行在支持的区块链（包括在美国境内）上使用USDC结算某些Visa债务。今年9月，Visa引入了另一种利用链上贷款为稳定币关联卡结算提供融资的模式。该公司将VisaNet结算信息与Credit Coop的贷款基础设施相结合，使参与的卡项目能够借入稳定币以满足日常结算义务。

据报道，自2023年以来，Credit Coop已通过3000多次借贷事件累计融资25亿美元。Visa表示，该系统帮助部分参与项目将借贷成本降低了多达30%，但具体利率未予披露。

Visa正在致力于建立一个模型，即每日结算文件可以触发一笔金额恰好等于卡项目应付金额的稳定币贷款。该公司表示，这种提议的设置可以减少资本被借用的时间，因为资金将与单个结算周期更紧密地挂钩。目前，尚未宣布该系统在所有稳定币关联项目中的全面发布日期。