Visa, M-Pesa pilot stablecoin payments in DRC

In July 2026 Visa, M-Pesa and Onafriq began a pilot in the Democratic Republic of Congo that uses U.S. dollar‑pegged stablecoins to settle cross‑border mobile transactions into DRC mobile wallets.

The program routes payments through a blockchain settlement layer while consumers continue to use their existing mobile‑money apps. Transfers that normally pass through several correspondent banks and take days are routed through the stablecoin corridor to complete settlement in minutes and with fewer intermediary fees.

The pilot combines Visa’s payments network, M-Pesa’s mobile‑money reach and Onafriq’s pan‑African connectivity. The companies plan to test how tokenized dollars move between countries and how to reconcile those token flows with fiat balances on mobile money platforms.

Participants will test liquidity management, on‑platform wallet top‑ups, treasury operations and back‑end reconciliation. A partner, Yellow Card, will examine stablecoin treasury functions and international settlement flows as part of the effort.

The World Bank estimates average remittance costs in Sub‑Saharan Africa are near 8% of the transfer amount. Traditional SWIFT transfers often involve multiple intermediaries, fees and multi‑day settlement; on‑chain settlement can reduce the number of intermediaries and shorten finalization times.

Regulatory factors in the DRC could affect deployment. The Central Bank of Congo has policies aimed at reducing dollar use and promoting the franc. Partners will examine whether dollar‑pegged stablecoins conflict with those currency goals and what conversion or safeguard mechanisms are required.

Companies will monitor settlement speed, fee levels, liquidity plumbing, anti‑money‑laundering checks and currency conversion processes. Results from the pilot will inform decisions about scaling and how the stablecoin corridor interacts with national currency policy and existing banking rails.