ACI Worldwide and Circle are planning a Colombia-focused pilot to test how USDC settlement could operate alongside existing payment systems, rather than replacing them. The initiative will use ACI’s Connetic platform and Circle’s USDC infrastructure to let institutions assess stablecoin settlement within their current treasury, governance and payment processes, according to CryptoSlate.
A pilot alongside traditional payment rails
The companies announced the collaboration on Oct. 27, 2026. Its initial focus is Colombia, where participating institutions would evaluate the use of USDC together with the payment rails and systems they already operate.
Connetic is described as a cloud-native payments platform that brings traditional payment methods, digital assets and card payments into one operating environment. In the proposed arrangement, Connetic would provide the orchestration layer, while Circle’s infrastructure would provide the USDC settlement component. The announcement does not say that every payment processed through Connetic would settle in USDC.
USDC is a stablecoin designed to maintain a value linked to the US dollar. Circle describes it as fully reserved and redeemable one-for-one for dollars. The pilot is therefore focused on evaluating a digital-dollar settlement option within existing institutional operations, not on announcing a new Colombian payment network.
What institutions will evaluate
The proposed testing would examine how USDC could fit into treasury functions, governance frameworks and settlement procedures. This matters because financial institutions generally need new payment or settlement methods to work with their existing controls and operating models before they can consider broader use.
ACI global head of account-to-account payments Craig Ramsey said financial institutions want to understand how digital-asset settlement can fit into infrastructure and operating models they already trust.
Circle’s Circle Mint service allows eligible institutions to redeem USDC directly for dollars. According to Circle’s stated access terms, individuals and small businesses cannot use Circle Mint directly. The announcement does not specify how USDC access or redemption would be arranged for institutions involved in the Colombia pilot.
The companies also provide no Colombia-specific comparison of settlement costs or speed. While Circle markets USDC payments as low cost and capable of settling in seconds, the announcement does not include measured results from this initiative.
No banks, volumes or rollout timetable disclosed
The announcement names no Colombian banks or other participating financial institutions. It also provides no production transaction volumes, measured settlement-time results, cost comparisons or timetable for a broader rollout.
That leaves the project at the demonstration stage. A successful pilot could provide information about how stablecoin settlement interacts with institutional payment operations, but the available details do not establish bank adoption across Colombia or confirm that the arrangement will move into production.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data as of Oct. 25, 2026, at 22:38 +03:30, shows USDC at $0.9998375755, with a 24-hour change of 0% and a seven-day change of -0.01%. The same data lists Plasma (XPL) at $0.0738233787, up 0.12% over 24 hours and down 2.89% over seven days; Nexus (NEX) at $0.0000006151, up 1.61% and down 13.97%; and Comedian (BAN) at $0.0575169485, down 4.44% and up 7.23%, respectively.
