Payment Giant VISA to Utilize Solana (SOL) Network

• VISA believes that Solana will help achieve enterprise-level efficiency for all Visa issuers and merchants at almost zero cost.
• VISA Treasury and Settlement Systems enable the clearing, settlement, and transportation of billions of transactions daily. The company believes that by using blockchain platforms like Solana, it can shorten settlement times for cross-border payments.
• Visa is effectively integrating with Ethereum, which enables automatic payments. The company is also making significant investments in global settlements involving both digital assets and traditional fiat currencies.

Payment giant VISA has announced the expansion of its USDC settlement pilot to the Solana blockchain network; what is VISA aiming for with the Solana network?

VISA to Work on Stablecoin Projects on Solana Network

Earlier today, the payment giant VISA announced that it had expanded its USDC settlement pilot to the Solana blockchain network. VISA believes that Solana will help achieve enterprise-level efficiency for all Visa issuers and merchants at almost zero cost.

According to the press release, VISA is working with merchant processors Nuvei and Worldpay. Visa has successfully transferred millions of USDC (USD Coin) over Solana and Ethereum blockchains to replace approved fiat currency payments via VisaNet by conducting live pilot programs with issuers and processors.

As a result, consumers experience the ease of instant payment authorizations when they use their VISA cards at VISA-accepting merchants worldwide. However, in the background, the funds have not yet moved between customers’ banks and merchant banks.

Here, VISA Treasury and Settlement Systems enable the clearing, settlement, and transportation of billions of transactions daily. The company believes that by using blockchain platforms like Solana, it can shorten settlement times for cross-border payments. Speaking about the development, VISA’s Crypto Chief Cuy Sheffield said:

‘By using global blockchain networks such as Solana and Ethereum, along with stablecoins like USDC, we’re speeding up cross-border settlement and offering our customers a modern way for Visa Treasury to easily send or receive money. Visa remains committed to being a pioneer in digital currency and blockchain innovation, helping improve the method of transferring money using these new technologies.’

VISA and Stablecoin Efforts

Payment giants VISA and Mastercard are working on embracing blockchain and stablecoin technology. In early 2023, Cuy Sheffield mentioned that VISA had created a ‘vault memory’ for stablecoins, allowing users to convert their crypto assets into fiat currencies.

Visa is effectively integrating with Ethereum, which enables automatic payments. The company is also making significant investments in global settlements involving both digital assets and traditional fiat currencies. This area is a focus for Visa, aiming to build a strong foundation not only for conversion between USD and Euro but also for tokenized equivalents, such as stablecoins, against traditional fiat currencies.