Visa is expanding its presence in the digital asset space with the launch of a new platform designed to help banks, fintech companies and crypto firms build and manage stablecoin-based payment services.
The new offering, called the Visa Stablecoin Platform, provides financial institutions with a single location to issue, move and manage stablecoins in a Visa-managed environment, as opposed to building their own blockchain infrastructure from scratch.
The platform initially supports Open USD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin created by Open Standard. The service will allow institutions to mint new stablecoins, redeem them, move them between wallets, and integrate them into payment and settlement flows, leveraging Visa’s global network.
“With the Visa Stablecoin Platform, we’re giving our clients a single place to mint, move and manage stablecoin operations with the controls, security and network reach they already expect from Visa,” Jack Forestell, the company’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer, said in a statement.
What will the new launch include?
The core of the platform is its Wallet-as-a-Service product that allows institutions to create and manage blockchain wallets without the need to develop their own custody infrastructure. Existing digital wallet providers can also integrate their wallets directly into the platform.
The system is designed for institutional use, with built-in security features such as dual approval workflows, audit logs and transfer controls to help meet regulatory and compliance requirements, Visa said.
The platform also supports other stablecoin initiatives from Visa including stablecoin settlement services, stablecoin-linked payment cards and digital asset money movement products. The plan is for financial institutions to be able to tap into multiple stablecoin capabilities within a single ecosystem.
The platform will be available initially to a select group of beta customers. Visa said it will take feedback from those early users before opening up access more widely.
Stablecoin growth and industry acceptance
The launch comes as stablecoins continue to move from the crypto industry into mainstream finance.
Banks, payment companies and fintech firms have looked more and more to digital tokens backed by the dollar as a faster way to make payments, cross-border transfers and settlement. Stablecoins, which have a somewhat stable value, are considered more useful for payments than other more volatile cryptos like bitcoin.
Visa has been steadily building its digital asset strategy over the past few years, working with crypto exchanges, enabling stablecoin settlement and supporting blockchain-based payment solutions. The new platform expands on those efforts by allowing institutions to launch their own stablecoin services without having to manage the technical complexity themselves.
The announcement also comes on the back of a string of broader tech moves from the payments giant, including plans to deploy an AI-based financial assistant for U.S. banks later this year.
Visa is positioning itself as the infrastructure provider that bridges traditional finance with blockchain-based payment networks as competition in digital payments intensifies. The company is betting that stablecoins will become an ever larger part of the global payments landscape by giving banks and fintechs an easier way to issue and use digital dollars.
