Visa pairs settlement data with onchain lending as stablecoin card programs surge

Visa ↗ 2.82% announced Tuesday that more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs are now live globally, with payment volume surging nearly 200% year over year as the payments giant moves to pair its settlement data with onchain lending infrastructure for blockchain-based lenders.cnbc+1

Stablecoin settlement volume on Visa's network has surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate, up more than 15 times from a year earlier, according to figures the company disclosed for its fiscal second quarter. The growth marks a sharp acceleration from March, when Visa placed the stablecoin settlement run rate near $7 billion.theblock+1

Bridging the Settlement Gap

"Stablecoin-linked cards are in hypergrowth mode," Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, told CNBC in an exclusive interview, adding that new issuers are joining the network and launching cards every week.cnbc

The rapid expansion has surfaced a working-capital challenge. Every card program must fund its daily settlement obligation before collecting payments from cardholders. For early-stage programs that settle daily — including weekends and holidays — and need only a few million dollars, traditional warehouse credit lines are often uneconomical.visa+1

To address that gap, Visa is working with Credit Coop, which has built a stablecoin-denominated revolving credit facility secured by settlement receivables. The facility uses daily Visa settlement files and Credit Coop's Spigot smart contract to size funding and automate repayments. Credit Coop says it has financed more than $2.5 billion in cumulative volume since 2023, executing over 9,000 onchain repayment events with zero defaults.theblock+1

From Pilot to Institutional Scale

Rain, a Visa principal member, has used the facility since August 2023, financing roughly $2 billion in settlement volume. As more lenders have grown comfortable underwriting these facilities, borrowing costs for participating programs have fallen by as much as 30%, Visa said.visa+1

Karta, a premium Visa credit card operating under Rain's infrastructure, launched on a Credit Coop facility and later raised $140 million in June 2026 — a $15 million Series A led by Galaxy Ventures alongside a $125 million institutional credit facility from Community Investment Management.theblock+1

Broader Stablecoin Strategy

The announcement builds on Visa's stablecoin platform launch in July, which joined competing efforts from Mastercard ↗ 3.34%, PayPal ↗ 4.09%, and Circle. Last year's passage of the GENIUS Act, which established U.S. stablecoin regulation, helped accelerate adoption. Sheffield called the legislation a "huge" turning point.cnbc

Visa and Credit Coop are now developing just-in-time settlement funding, where a daily settlement file would trigger a same-day stablecoin disbursement for the exact net amount owed, shortening borrowing windows from days to hours. The company has not disclosed a timeline for broad rollout across all 160 programs.crypto+1