VISA said stablecoin-linked card programs on its network have grown to more than 160, while payment volume across those programs has increased by nearly 200% year over year.

The company also reported that its stablecoin settlement volume has surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate, representing more than 15 times the level recorded a year earlier. An annualized run rate extrapolates recent activity out to a full year, so the figure reflects current momentum rather than completed volume. The numbers indicate that VISA is moving beyond blockchain experimentation and incorporating on-chain activity into its core payments infrastructure. For a card network, settlement is the step where funds actually move to resolve transaction obligations, meaning stablecoins — digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies — are being placed inside the payment flow itself rather than alongside it.

“Stablecoins are not only changing how money moves, they’re creating opportunities to rethink the financial infrastructure that supports payments,” said Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Partnerships at VISA.

VISA’s latest initiative combines VisaNet settlement data with on-chain lending infrastructure, enabling stablecoin-linked card programs and fintech companies to access working capital. The approach addresses a familiar constraint for card-issuing fintechs, whose capital is typically tied up until settlement cycles complete.

According to VISA’s Onchain Analytics Dashboard, more than $694 billion in stablecoin-denominated loans have been sent through on-chain lending protocols since 2020, a figure that frames how much credit activity already occurs on public blockchains today.

VISA is already working with Credit Coop on a model that uses VISA settlement data and on-chain transaction records to assess credit performance and automate settlement financing. The model has supported more than $2.5 billion in cumulative financed settlement volume since 2023, with zero defaults across participating facilities. That pairing — underwriting against real payment data while executing the loan lifecycle programmatically — is what separates the arrangement from one-off blockchain pilots.

The model has also processed more than 3,000 borrowing events and 9,000 repayment events programmatically on-chain.

VISA described on-chain credit as a natural extension of its broader efforts to connect traditional financial infrastructure with emerging digital asset technologies. The metrics now on record — program count, annualized settlement volume, and cumulative financing totals — give the industry a concrete baseline for measuring how deeply stablecoins become embedded in mainstream card settlement over time.