Visa and Aquanow expand stablecoin payments with 24/7 access

Visa has teamed up with crypto infrastructure provider Aquanow to enable settlement in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa using approved stablecoins such as USDC. The companies announced the partnership Thursday to enable 24/7 settlement and lower costs.

The partnership expands Visa’s use of stablecoins within its settlement network for banks and payment firms across the CEMEA region. Institutions will be able to use regulated stablecoins, starting with USDC, to digitize the back end of money movement, cut operational friction and shorten settlement times for cross-border flows.

Visa pointed to rising demand from financial institutions for faster and cheaper cross-border payments. The integration is designed to reduce dependence on traditional settlement systems that operate on limited schedules and involve multiple intermediaries.

Godfrey Sullivan, Visa’s head of product and solutions for the CEMEA region, called the partnership “another key step in modernizing the backend rails of payments, reducing reliance on traditional systems with multiple intermediaries, and preparing institutions for the future of money movement.”

Stablecoins began as a way to shift funds between cryptocurrency exchanges. They now serve as digital dollars in on-chain markets and are being tested for institutional settlement and payments. Using a stablecoin for back-end settlement allows payment processors and banks to reconcile obligations continuously rather than in batches tied to banking hours.

In Europe, market infrastructure group Deutsche Börse outlined plans to integrate EURAU, a euro-pegged stablecoin issued by AllUnity, into its institutional custody service, with future integration across its service portfolio. The group’s digital-asset work has included Circle’s Euro Coin (EURC) and Societe Generale-Forge’s EUR CoinVertible (EURCV).

Supervisors are still assessing how to treat stablecoin exposure in the banking system. Erik Thedéen, governor of Sweden’s central bank and chair of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, indicated the committee may need a different approach to the current 1,250% risk weight applied to crypto assets. In the United Kingdom, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden expects the country to keep pace with the United States on stablecoin regulation.

As GNcrypto covered previously, Visa launched a U.S. pilot letting businesses fund Visa Direct payouts in dollars while recipients opt to receive USDC, targeting creators, freelancers and gig workers, with broader access planned for the second half of 2026. 

The company earlier enabled pre‑funding Visa Direct accounts with stablecoins and added USDG, PYUSD and EURC on Stellar and Avalanche, testing instant transfers for treasury needs. Since 2020, Visa says it has processed over $140 billion in crypto and stablecoin flows and supports more than 130 stablecoin‑linked card programs in over 40 countries.