On September 30, 2025, Visa announced a pilot that lets banks and payment companies pre-fund Visa Direct using stablecoins. Instead of parking large fiat balances for days, participants can send a supported stablecoin, then use that balance to trigger payouts to cards, bank accounts, or wallets. Visa’s pitch is simple, faster liquidity, more flexible treasury operations, and predictability on settlement.
The move meets a long-standing pain point in cross-border payouts where float, cut-off times, and multi-day settlement create friction for businesses that operate across time zones.
How the pilot works
Stablecoin as working capital
Participants send stablecoins to Visa to cover upcoming payouts. Visa treats that stablecoin balance as available funds, so disbursements can move without waiting for traditional funding windows. Visa says it is onboarding select partners now, with plans to expand in 2026.
Who this serves
- Banks and remitters that manage liquidity across many corridors
- Marketplaces and payroll platforms that batch large, time-sensitive payouts
- Fintechs that already hold or accept stablecoins for treasury efficiency
Why it matters for Kenya and Africa
Kenyan and African payment flows already lean on Visa rails, from consumer virtual cards to bank-led “send money” services. When pre-funding becomes faster and more programmable, regional players can compress payout cycles and reduce idle float. For context, Kenya has seen Visa-powered innovations like the M-Pesa GlobalPay virtual Visa card for international online payments, which broadened how consumers transact across borders.
Visa Direct has also underpinned bank products here, including Absa’s “Visa Send Money,” which highlighted direct-to-card transfers as a faster alternative to traditional remittances. Stablecoin prefunding is a logical upgrade to that same payout backbone, since it addresses the prefunding bottleneck rather than the last-mile delivery.
Beyond Visa’s pilot, Africa’s stablecoin story has accelerated in 2024 and 2025. Yellow Card and Visa announced a partnership aimed at using stablecoins to improve cross-border payments in emerging markets, signaling growing comfort with blockchain-based settlement among mainstream networks.
At the policy layer, Kenya’s Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill seeks to clarify licensing and compliance, which is essential if banks and fintechs are to hold or route stablecoins for treasury use. Clear rules can enable more institutions to participate in pilots like Visa’s without regulatory ambiguity.
Benefits to watch
Liquidity and timing
Stablecoin prefunding can free capital from multi-day holds, and it can support weekend or after-hours funding since blockchain settlement is near continuous. This helps marketplaces, ride-hailing platforms, and exporters who need predictable cash cycles.
FX and corridor strategy
Treasury teams could fund in a stablecoin that tracks a major currency, then convert to local currencies at payout time using their preferred providers. That decouples corridor funding from corridor disbursement, which improves flexibility.
Cost and predictability
If prefunding becomes a frequent, low-friction action, firms can top up more often without tying up large sums. Predictable settlement windows also make reconciliation cleaner.
Caveats and open questions
- Which stablecoins and chains. Visa has not specified assets or networks for this pilot. Institutions will care about reserve quality, on-chain throughput, and integration effort.
- On-ramps and off-ramps. Treasury benefits depend on compliant, liquid ramps in each market. Licensed partners and bank connections remain key.
- Regulatory scope. As Kenya finalizes VASP rules, banks and PSPs will align policies on custody, travel rule, and reporting for stablecoin balances.
The broader trend
Large networks are adding programmable settlement options. Mastercard recently moved to support USDC and EURC settlement in parts of EEMEA, a sign that card schemes see stablecoins as a complementary settlement layer for cross-border value movement. Visa’s pilot fits this trajectory, focused here on the funding side of payouts.
