Visa is significantly broadening its partnership with Bridge, a company under Stripe, to enhance the availability of stablecoin-linked Visa cards across the globe. The initiative aims to roll out the card program in 18 countries initially, with aspirations to extend this reach to over 100 countries by the year's end, covering regions including Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.
This follows the program's debut in April 2025, which included markets in Latin America like Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico. The collaboration now includes a testing phase for stablecoin settlement, allowing transactions to be processed directly in stablecoins instead of traditional fiat currencies. This advancement comes as Visa's head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield, emphasized the need to adapt to the growing onchain landscape.
Bridge has recently obtained conditional approval from a U.S. regulator to function as a national trust bank. With this new capability, card transactions can be settled onchain, enhancing the speed and transparency of payments. Visa is also exploring support for stablecoins developed through Bridge’s platform, which differ from established stablecoins like Tether's USDt or Circle's USDC, as they are generated by businesses rather than third-party issuers.