Visa and BVNK collaborate to advance stablecoin payment pilot, enabling on-chain cross-border transfers with USDC

Source: TokenPost Original Title: Visa partners with BVNK to pilot stablecoin payments… On-chain remittance with USDC Original Link: https://www.tokenpost.kr/news/blockchain/323852

Visa and BVNK collaborate to advance stablecoin payment pilot

Visa announces a partnership with UK fintech company BVNK to launch a new USDC-based stablecoin pre-funded payment service for select corporate clients. This pilot allows digital dollars to be sent directly to designated recipient wallets and is a follow-up to Visa’s on-chain settlement experiments on public blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana.

Previously, Visa had made a strategic investment in BVNK through its investment arm, Visa Ventures. This collaboration reflects the competitive landscape of integrating tokenized dollars into financial networks. By October 2025, Wall Street investment firms also joined BVNK’s funding round, indicating rising interest from traditional finance in stablecoin infrastructure. Visa states that this move aims to establish a new payment method operable outside banking hours, viewing stablecoins as “a significant opportunity for global payments.”

BVNK’s competitive position in the stablecoin market

A BVNK spokesperson emphasized that this cooperation with Visa was part of a competitive bidding process, which BVNK won with its superior service. Both parties expressed optimism about the efficiency and accessibility potential of stablecoins.

This announcement marks BVNK’s return to market focus after a failed acquisition negotiation last November. At that time, the acquirer aimed to expand stablecoin revenue through BVNK and gain advantages in competition with traditional payment companies like Western Union, MoneyGram, and SWIFT. However, the deal fell through due to due diligence issues.

Currently, BVNK is operating pilot projects with some large corporate clients on Visa Direct, with plans to gradually expand service regions, support more currencies, stablecoin types, and customer groups as regulatory approval is obtained.

The penetration of stablecoins in the global payments market

Stablecoins have become one of the fastest-growing segments in the cryptocurrency space. According to a recent financial stability report by the European Central Bank, the global stablecoin market cap is approximately $280 billion by the end of 2025. The International Monetary Fund estimates annual stablecoin transaction volume to be in the range of $3-4 trillion.

Joint reports from on-chain data analysis firms show that the number of active stablecoin wallets increased by over 50% between February 2024 and February 2025, demonstrating the rapid expansion of stablecoins as tools for global remittances and trade settlement.

Survival strategies under regulatory environments

The collaboration between Visa and BVNK is also a strategic move amid changing regulatory landscapes. Major financial regulators, including the European Central Bank, have warned that the rapid growth of stablecoins could pose external shocks to bank financing markets, while also recognizing their role in optimizing international settlement.

In the US, legislative discussions continue, with whether stablecoins can generate yields becoming a key issue influencing the scope of regulatory services. Visa and BVNK emphasize that all transactions are limited to compliant wallets and counterparties, and are designed in accordance with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and the UK/US regulatory frameworks.

Overall, this partnership represents a joint effort by card companies and fintech firms to upgrade stablecoins from mere payment tools to core infrastructure of the global financial system. In a rapidly evolving regulatory environment, who will dominate the “digital dollar ecosystem” remains a key point of interest.