Visa is partnering with US Dollar Coin (USDC) issuer Circle Internet Financial to integrate USDC payment methods with Visa credit cards.
The two financial services firms are working to allow Visa cardholders to send and receive the Ethereum-based stablecoin, reports Forbes.
The partnership will soon allow Visa-supported businesses to send USDC to any other business supported by Visa in the world. Once those funds are converted to the national currency of the receiving business, they will be able to spend that money anywhere that accepts Visa.
Circle is already part of Visa’s Fast Track program along with 25 cryptocurrency wallet providers that can now test out the new USDC feature. After Circle progresses out of the Fast Track program, Visa will release a credit card that allows Visa-supported merchants to send and receive USDC to other merchants supported by Visa.
Says Visa’s head of crypto Cuy Sheffield,
“This will be the first corporate card that will allow businesses to be able to spend a balance of USDC and so we think that this will significantly increase the utility that USDC can have for Circle’s business clients.”
USDC stablecoins backed 1:1 by the US dollar were first used to provide Bitcoin holders with a quick method to sell off their Bitcoin. Today, Sheffield emphasizes that stablecoins and central bank currencies (CBDCs) are unavoidably tied into the future of money and Visa is uniquely poised to help facilitate that shift.
“We continue to think of Visa as a network of networks. Blockchain networks and stablecoins, 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.”
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