Visa Taps Onchain Lending to Finance Stablecoin Card Programs

Visa is offering a new way for lenders to underwrite working capital for stablecoin-linked card programs by marrying its payment settlement data with blockchain transaction records. Under the announced approach, lenders can access VisaNet settlement details alongside onchain activity to evaluate a payment business’s cash flows and set financing terms.

The company highlighted metrics intended to show market scale: its network now supports more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs, payment volume on those programs rose almost 200% year over year, and settlement volume on Visa’s platform has increased more than 15-fold to an annualized rate above $20 billion. Visa also cited analytics indicating more than $694 billion in stablecoin loans have been processed by onchain lending protocols since 2020.

Visa pointed to an early financing arrangement with Credit Coop as an example of the model in action. Credit Coop uses smart contracts to automate funding, collateral management and repayments; with customer permission it combines Visa settlement records and blockchain data to assess creditworthiness. According to Visa, that model has financed over $2.5 billion in cumulative settlement volume since 2023 and reported no defaults across participating facilities.

The firm frames the program as part of a broader push to fold more financial activity into blockchain-based rails. Last year Visa suggested stablecoin lending could migrate parts of the global credit market—estimated at roughly $40 trillion—onto blockchains. Separately, Visa said it expanded its settlement program in April by adding five blockchains (bringing the total to nine) and at that time reported a $7 billion annualized settlement rate. The company did not disclose which lenders participate in the new financing model, financing rates, or how widely the offering will be available.