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Visa is taking a bold step into the future of digital payments with the launch of a new pilot program designed to streamline payouts for gig workers, freelancers, and online creators. Announced recently, the initiative enables marketplaces to send payments directly to U.S.-based recipients using dollar-backed stablecoins such as Circle’s USDC.
The company says its goal is to make accessing money faster and more inclusive. “Launching stablecoin payouts is about enabling truly universal access to money in minutes—not days—for anyone, anywhere in the world,” said Chris Newkirk, Visa’s president of commercial and money movement solutions.
Instant Payouts Powered by Visa Direct
The backbone of this pilot is Visa Direct, a service that enables near-instant transfers across Visa’s global network. Traditionally used for bank-to-bank or card-to-card transfers, Visa Direct now incorporates stablecoin functionality—an upgrade added in September—allowing users to receive funds in less than 30 minutes.
For gig platforms and digital marketplaces, this could be transformative. Instead of waiting days for funds to settle, freelance earners can receive payouts directly into a stablecoin wallet, giving them immediate access to spendable or transferable digital dollars.
Source: create.vista.com
Visa Deepens Its Crypto Integration
This pilot marks another milestone in Visa’s expanding crypto strategy. With over 4 billion account holders and more than 130 million merchants in its ecosystem, the payments giant has spent the past year working to seamlessly integrate blockchain-based technologies into its offerings.
Earlier in April, Visa partnered with stablecoin platform Bridge to allow fintechs to issue Visa cards backed by stablecoin balances—a move made even more notable after Stripe acquired Bridge for $1.1 billion. By July, Visa announced yet another partnership, this time with Paxos, to support PayPal’s stablecoin (PYUSD) and USDG, a digital dollar backed by companies like Robinhood and Kraken.
According to Rubail Birwadker, Visa’s head of growth products and partnerships, the company sees massive potential in the sector. “When stablecoins are trusted, scalable, and interoperable, they can fundamentally transform how money moves around the world,” he noted.
Rising Industry Momentum
Visa’s main competitor, Mastercard, is also accelerating its crypto initiatives, forming partnerships with firms including Ripple, Ondo Finance, and Kraken. Their growing involvement in the sector coincides with increasing regulatory clarity in the U.S., where lawmakers recently passed legislation defining who can issue stablecoins and under what conditions.
This regulatory shift is opening doors for traditional financial institutions. According to Vijit Katta, CEO of crypto neobank Tria, Visa’s updated internal policies have made blockchain integration far more accessible. “What we’re doing today was impossible two years ago. The technical flexibility Visa now allows has changed the game,” he said.
As global payments evolve, Visa’s stablecoin pilot signals a major leap toward a faster, more efficient, and more inclusive digital financial ecosystem.
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