Visa, the global payments giant, is taking another big step into the future of money movement, this time focusing on Africa.
The company has launched a stablecoin prefunding pilot through its Visa Direct platform, aiming to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and far more efficient for businesses in Nigeria and other emerging markets.
The new initiative promises to fix one of global finance’s most persistent pain points, the slow and expensive process of moving money across borders.
For years, African businesses sending or receiving international payments have faced hurdles such as delayed settlements, multiple currency conversions, and high transaction costs.
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Visa stablecoin pilot offers a blockchain-powered alternative that could change how liquidity and treasury operations are managed across Africa.
Cross-border payments are still slow, costly, and outdated
Even major corporations struggle to move money across borders in Africa. Traditional international banking channels rely on a network of intermediaries, from correspondent banks to clearing houses, which introduce time delays and additional costs.
These delays can mean missed opportunities and trapped capital for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially those engaged in imports and exports.
Businesses must often pre-fund multiple accounts in different currencies to ensure timely payouts.
Chris Newkirk, President of Commercial and Money Movement Solutions, said about the rollout, “Cross-border payments have been stuck in outdated systems for far too long. Visa Direct’s new stablecoins integration lays the groundwork for money to move instantly worldwide, giving businesses more choice in how they pay.”
The situation has been particularly tough for businesses in volatile currency markets, such as those in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and other parts of Africa, where exchange rate fluctuations can wipe out profits.
Stablecoins, digital currencies pegged to fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar, offer a potential fix by combining the stability of traditional money with the speed of digital transactions.
The stablecoin solution: How it works
Visa stablecoin prefunding pilot reimagines how companies fund their cross-border transactions. Before, a business must deposit fiat money into a bank account, often days before initiating international payouts.
With this new model, companies can pre-fund their Visa Direct accounts using stablecoins such as USDC, which is issued by Circle, or EURC, which are digital tokens backed 1:1 by reserves of traditional currencies.
This means that instead of wiring cash through a bank, a business sends stablecoins to them, which then treats those digital assets as money in the bank.
These funds become immediately available for global disbursement. The result is near-instant liquidity and settlement times that moved from days to minutes.
Andrew Uaboi, Vice President and Cluster Head for West Africa, explained the local significance of this innovation:
“By integrating stablecoins into Visa Direct, we are giving businesses in Nigeria faster, smarter, and more flexible ways to move money across borders. This innovation helps companies manage liquidity better, reduce costs, and respond more quickly to opportunities, supporting the growth of Nigeria’s dynamic fintech and business ecosystem.”
For end users, the payout experience remains the same; recipients still receive money in their local fiat currency. But behind the transactions, Visa blockchain integration ensures faster settlement and greater transparency.
Who can use it: The selected group of early participants
At this early stage, Visa is selective about who can access the stablecoin pilot. The program is currently open to a limited number of banks, remittance providers, and financial institutions that meet their operational and compliance standards.
These early adopters are typically institutions that already move large volumes of international payments and seek more efficient ways to manage their liquidity.
The pilot frees up working capital and helps these companies operate more efficiently by reducing the need to hold capital in multiple currencies.
Their participation selection criteria include technical capability, compliance readiness, and alignment with the company’s digital payment vision.
In other words, the pilot phase will include only institutions that can seamlessly integrate into their blockchain-backed systems and comply with local regulations.
Building a trusted network for digital settlements
Visa’s approach to innovation has always been careful and compliance-driven, and the stablecoin pilot is no different.
The company emphasises that stablecoins will be treated as legitimate prefunding assets only for partners that meet its operational and regulatory criteria.
This includes:
- Proof of reserves and transparency in stablecoin issuers.
- Compliance with local financial regulations, including anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) standards.
- Robust digital infrastructure to ensure smooth integration with Visa Direct.
- Operational readiness to handle blockchain-based transactions securely.
With all the strict criteria, they aim to preserve trust in their global payments network while exploring the frontier of blockchain-based finance.
Yellow Card gives African businesses access
Visa’s expansion of stablecoin capabilities into Africa isn’t happening in isolation. The company has partnered with Yellow Card, Africa’s largest crypto and stablecoin platform, to provide treasury solutions that help African businesses manage digital assets more efficiently.
This partnership is a strategic extension of their goal to modernise cross-border payments.
Through Yellow Card, they can reach fintechs, merchants, and payment startups already using stablecoins in everyday operations.
The collaboration allows them to leverage Yellow Card’s regional expertise and infrastructure while giving African fintechs access to their trusted global network.
Together, they are building what could become a new standard for international business payments across Africa.
Visa’s bigger plan for CEMEA
While Africa is a key focus, the stablecoin initiative is part of a broader expansion strategy covering the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) region.
They are positioning stablecoins not just as a tool for faster payments but as a foundational layer for the future of digital treasury management.
The company plans to gradually expand its pilot through 2026, bringing more banks, remittance companies, and fintechs into the ecosystem.
The CEMEA region, with its rapidly growing digital economy and increasing adoption of blockchain solutions, provides an ideal testing ground for its stablecoin plans.
The company’s earlier partnerships, such as those with Bridge to enable stablecoin-linked card issuance and the development of the Visa Tokenised Asset Platform, are part of the same effort to make digital assets more usable and regulated within traditional finance.
In the long run, they envision a world where businesses can fund, settle, and manage global transactions using a blend of fiat and digital currencies within one unified system.
What it means for African businesses
The pilot could be a game-changer for Nigerian businesses. It promises to lower transaction costs, improve cash flow management, and reduce the stress associated with international transactions.
Companies could see payments processed within minutes instead of waiting days for funds to clear. This level of speed and efficiency could unlock new growth opportunities for exporters, freelancers, and digital entrepreneurs operating across borders.
In essence, the stablecoin pilot isn’t just a technical upgrade; it’s a bridge between traditional finance and the digital economy.
It gives businesses a glimpse of what the future of payments could look like: instant, borderless, and transparent.
Meanwhile, the stablecoin pilot is still in its early phase, and a broader rollout is planned for April 2026.
The company’s message is clear: the infrastructure of global money movement must evolve with the times. And for Africa, this development might just begin with a stablecoin.
“By integrating stablecoins into Visa Direct, we are giving businesses in Nigeria faster, smarter, and more flexible ways to move money across borders,” said Andrew Uaboi.
“This innovation helps companies manage liquidity better, reduce costs, and respond more quickly to opportunities, supporting the growth of Nigeria’s dynamic fintech and business ecosystem.”