Visa has partnered with Yellow Card, a pan-African stablecoin infrastructure company, to bring cross-border stablecoin payments in countries across Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) where Yellow Card operates. The partnership will allow both companies to test stablecoin integration on Visa Direct, a service which lets businesses send money directly to customers’ bank accounts or to the accounts linked to their debit or credit cards. With this move, businesses will be able to hold dollars in stablecoins and send money easily across borders.
The partnership fits into Visa’s broader strategy to modernise payment systems across the CEMEA region. The focus is on making money transfers faster, cheaper, and available every day of the year by integrating stablecoins into its existing infrastructure.
Businesses, particularly in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) where stablecoin adoption has shown strong potential, stand to benefit most from this partnership. Between June 2022 and July 2024, the SSA region received at least $500 billion in stablecoin remittances each month. In Ethiopia, businesses have adopted stablecoins for cross-border payments, leading to a 180% year-over-year increase in low-value transfers. In Nigeria, stablecoins like USDT are now among the most traded currencies on crypto exchanges, often used to hedge against currency instability.
“Traditional payment companies continue to question not ‘if’ they need a stablecoin strategy, but how quickly they can deploy one,” said Chris Maurice, CEO and co-founder of Yellow Card. “We are thrilled to partner with Visa to help realise the potential of stablecoins technology in emerging economies.”
Visa’s interest in stablecoins started in 2021, when it launched a pilot with Singapore-based crypto firm, Crypto.com, to settle transactions using USDC. This marked one of the first times a major payments network used a stablecoin for settlement. Since then, Visa has expanded to support other blockchains like Solana and opened up these services to more financial institutions. By 2023, Visa allowed clients to settle obligations in USDC and has since processed over $225 million in stablecoin transactions.
Globally, interest in stablecoins continues to grow, as the digital asset is currently experiencing an adoption boom. In the past month alone, stablecoin transactions hit $4.1 trillion, eclipsing even what Visa processes quarterly. Shopify has introduced stablecoin payments with Circle, the USDC stablecoin issuer, and Coinbase, a US crypto firm. Stripe is also testing stablecoin payments in 101 countries. Walmart and Amazon are mulling plans to introduce their own platform-native stablecoins, per Wall Street Journal. In Africa, the naira-backed cNGN stablecoin now has ₦165.4 million in circulation and is listed on crypto platforms like Busha and Quidax.
Amid this surge, Visa sees an opportunity to expand its role in institutional payments through strategic bets.
“In 2025, we believe that every institution that moves money will need a stablecoin strategy,” said Godfrey Sullivan, Visa’s senior vice president and head of product for CEMEA. “As more players explore this new technology, Visa is ready to support them with the tools and experience they need to succeed.”
Editor’s note: This article has been edited to reflect that the Visa and Yellow Card partnership will roll out in countries where the latter operates.
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