Visa Brings USDC Settlement to the U.S. and Advances Onchain Payments

Visa Inc. V is making a significant move to modernize payment systems by introducing USDC-based settlements for U.S. institutions. This initiative enables select issuer and acquirer partners to settle their VisaNet obligations using Circle’s dollar-backed stablecoin, along with traditional fiat methods. With this, Visa is pushing stablecoins beyond experimentation and into core settlement workflows.

The key advantage lies in speed and availability. USDC settlement enables fund movement across blockchains seven days a week, even on weekends and holidays. For banks and fintech companies, settling in USDC can compress settlement cycles, improve liquidity efficiency and reduce reliance on traditional cut-off times tied to legacy systems. Cross River Bank and Lead Bank have already started settling with Visa in USDC for transactions on the Solana blockchain.

This U.S. rollout builds on Visa’s stablecoin pilots across multiple regions and reflects steady momentum. Also, the company’s monthly stablecoin settlement volumes have surged to an annualized rate of over $3.5 billion as of Nov. 30, 2025. Beyond settlement, Visa is collaborating with Circle as a design partner on Arc, an upcoming Layer 1 blockchain. Built for high performance and scalability, Arc is designed to support V’s worldwide commercial activity on-chain. Once live, V plans to use Arc for USDC settlements within its network and run a validator node, strengthening its position in the blockchain’s ecosystem.

With broader U.S. access planned through 2026, this move signals a strategic pivot by Visa to position itself as a bridge between traditional financial rails and blockchain-based infrastructure. Visa has also introduced a global Stablecoins Advisory Practice under Visa Consulting & Analytics to guide financial institutions on market fit, strategy and implementation in the evolving stablecoin space.

Visa’s U.S. stablecoin settlement isn’t just a pilot — it’s a blueprint for the future of institutional payments, bridging the reliability of traditional networks with the speed, transparency and flexibility of blockchain technology.

V’s Price Performance

Over the past year, V shares have risen 8.7% against the industry’s decline of 9.9%.

V’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

V currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the business services space are OppFi Inc. OPFI, FirstCash Holdings, Inc. FCFS and Dave Inc. DAVE, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OppFi’s current-year earnings of $1.57 per share has witnessed two upward revisions in the past 60 days against no movement in the opposite direction. The consensus estimate of OppFi for current-year revenues is pegged at $597.6 million, implying 13.6% year-over-year growth.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FirstCash’s current-year earnings of $8.66 per share has witnessed two upward revisions in the past 60 days against no movement in the opposite direction. FirstCash beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 12.4%. The consensus estimate for current-year revenues is pegged at $3.6 billion, calling for a 5.3% year-over-year increase.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Dave’s current-year earnings of $12.96 per share has witnessed two upward revisions in the past 60 days against no movement in the opposite direction. Dave beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 74.7%. The consensus estimate for current-year revenues is pegged at $546.1 million, suggesting 57.3% year-over-year growth.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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