Visa and Bridge Expand Stablecoin-Backed Card Program to 100+ Countries
Bridge has teamed up with Lead Bank as part of Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot to enable businesses and fintechs to issue Visa-branded cards backed by stablecoins. The expansion to 100-plus countries lets issuers fund cards using stablecoins for point-of-sale transactions and payouts, while settlement leverages Visa’s pilot rails and partner bank custody. That setup is intended to make crypto-funded cards practical for payroll, merchant payouts, and consumer spending across many jurisdictions.
The move matters because it creates a broader on-ramp for stablecoins into everyday payments, potentially lowering settlement times and cross-border costs for businesses. Success will hinge on integrations with local banks, liquidity partners, and evolving regulatory clarity, but the pilot signals growing institutional interest in linking tokenized cash to mainstream payment networks. For fintechs and merchants, the program could simplify issuing crypto-funded payment products at scale if compliance and settlement flows prove robust.