Visa introduces a new onchain credit approach to support stablecoin-linked card programs and fintechs

Visa has announced a pioneering approach to onchain credit designed to help stablecoin-linked card programs and fintech companies access working capital by leveraging onchain lending infrastructure combined with Visa data.

Bridging traditional payment data with onchain credit infrastructure

Onchain lending is one of the fastest-growing areas in digital finance. According to the Visa Onchain Analytics Dashboard, since 2020, over $694 billion in stablecoin loans have been processed through onchain lending protocols, establishing a continuous global credit market.

However, much of this activity remains confined to crypto markets and has yet to significantly support everyday businesses and payment experiences.

Visa is addressing this gap by integrating VisaNet settlement data with onchain credit infrastructure. This fusion enables lenders to gain deeper insights into program operations, facilitating more accurate evaluation of financing opportunities tailored to their needs and extending capital to support business growth.

Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Partnerships at Visa, said, “Stablecoins are not only changing how money moves, they’re creating opportunities to rethink the financial infrastructure that supports payments. We’re seeing how trusted payment data and onchain technologies can work together to unlock new forms of liquidity, helping businesses access capital in ways that are more transparent, programmable and aligned to the speed of modern commerce.”

Visa’s broader stablecoin strategy

This announcement builds on Visa’s extensive stablecoin strategy. This includes the recent launch of the Visa Stablecoin Platform, enabling stablecoin settlement, expanding stablecoin-linked card programs, and assisting financial institutions in accessing new digital asset capabilities.

Currently, more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs operate on Visa’s network, with payment volumes growing nearly 200% year-over-year. Visa’s stablecoin settlement volume recently surpassed a $20 billion annualised run rate, reflecting a more than 15-fold increase year-over-year.

Birwadker added, “Visa has spent decades helping make payments more secure, reliable and accessible. As new forms of digital money emerge, we see an opportunity to apply those same principles to the next generation of financial services.”

Addressing working capital challenges for emerging payment companies

Emerging payment companies often struggle to secure working capital during periods of rapid growth. Traditional financing often demands substantial scale, a proven operating history, or manual assessments before extending credit. Visa believes that blockchain-based lending, backed by reliable payment data, can eliminate these obstacles by enhancing transparency and efficiency.

An early example of this model is Visa’s collaboration with Credit Coop, which provides working capital and settlement financing for stablecoin-linked card programs. Credit Coop uses smart contracts to automate funding, collateral management, and repayment. With customer authorisation, Credit Coop combines Visa settlement data with onchain transaction records to assess credit performance and support automated settlement financing.

Since 2023, this model has facilitated over $2.5 billion in financed settlements without any defaults.

It has handled over 3,000 borrow events and 9,000 repayment events on-chain, ensuring a transparent and auditable financing record.

Chris Walker, Founder and CEO of Credit Coop, quoted, “Payment companies have always had good collateral in their settlement receivables, but no way to show lenders how it performs in real time. By combining Visa settlement data with onchain infrastructure, we can evaluate live performance, enforce repayment from the settlement flow and extend capital onchain from participating lenders as a program grows.”

Vision for the future of onchain credit

Visa views onchain credit as an extension of its efforts to bridge traditional financial infrastructure with emerging digital asset technologies. As the digital payment space evolves, access to liquidity is critical for growth.

Visa believes that combining trusted payment infrastructure, tokenised assets, and programmable financial services can support new forms of lending, treasury management, and settlement across the global payments ecosystem.

Visa’s new onchain credit approach is a big step toward integrating traditional payment data with blockchain-based finance, unlocking new liquidity pathways for stablecoin-linked programs and fintechs worldwide.