Visa will facilitate USDC payments, thanks to fresh partnership

Visa has teamed up with blockchain services company Circle to make USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin transactions compatible with certain credit cards.

“After Circle itself graduates from Visa’s Fast Track program, likely sometime next year, Visa will issue a credit card that lets businesses send and receive USDC payments directly from any business using the card,” said a Forbes article on Wednesday.

Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, told Forbes:

“This will be the first, corporate card that will allow businesses to be able to spend a balance of USDC.”

Down the road, the collaboration will facilitate USDC transactions between cross-border Visa-friendly companies. The payments giant also unveiled a deal with BlockFi on Tuesday that will bring a credit card to market that pays out reward points in Bitcoin (BTC). 

Twenty-five wallet providers have jumped on the card provider’s Fast Track plan in recent days, setting the stage for Visa’s USDC move, Forbes noted.

Sheffield posited:

“We continue to think of Visa as a network of networks [...] Blockchain networks and stable coins, like USDC are just additional networks. So we think that there's a significant value that Visa can provide to our clients, enabling them to access them and enabling them to spend at our merchants.”

Crypto adoption has risen significantly in 2020, from PayPal launching digital assets on its platform to large Bitcoin purchases by large mainstream financial players.

Earlier this year, Coinbase gained payment card issuing capabilities through joining Visa’s principal member list.