Payment network Visa has reached an annualized stablecoin settlement run rate exceeding $25 billion, representing a roughly 10x surge over the past year, according to Chief Executive Officer Ryan McInerney during the company's earnings call. The platform now supports inter-bank settlement across 10 blockchains—more than double its tally a year ago—and settles transactions in five stablecoins without tying the run-rate figures to its fiscal 2027 target of low double-digit revenue growth.
Neutrality Policy and Open USD Integration
Visa currently settles payment balances using USD Coin (USDC), Global Dollar (USDG), Circle's euro-backed Euro Coin (EURC), PayPal USD (PYUSD), and SBC, a U.S. dollar token issued by Brale. Describing the network's multi-chain posture, McInerney told analysts, "we are stablecoin agnostic. We are blockchain agnostic."
Despite declaring neutrality, Visa remains a member of the Open USD consortium, which produces the Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin. OUSD powers Visa's Flex Credential product and surpassed $800 million in circulating supply as of Oct. 15. Management confirmed plans to incorporate OUSD into further network services, including Visa Direct, its real-time payment network.
Card Program Metrics and Network Expansion
Visa's consumer-facing digital asset products also expanded significantly over the past 12 months. Key operating metrics from the announcement include:
- $25 billion annualized settlement run rate, up 10x year-over-year.
- 225+ active stablecoin-linked card programs, representing a 70% annual increase.
- 5 million active cards generating over 150% spending growth across 50+ countries.
- 300+ partners in the onboarding pipeline for the Visa Stablecoin Platform, currently operational in 6 key markets including the U.S., U.K., and Mexico.
Why It Matters
Visa's rapid settlement expansion demonstrates how credit card networks are positioning to capture institutional digital asset flows while stablecoins dominate payment adoption. By combining token-agnostic settlement infrastructure with its own OUSD consortium integration inside Visa Direct, the network aims to maintain high liquidity fee capture. However, as studies highlight that traditional entry mechanisms face challenges where fiat ramp fees reach up to 9%, Visa's fee model could face long-term competition if financial institutions opt to settle directly on chain without card network intermediation.
