Visa and Mastercard are introducing commercial routes that allow eligible businesses to use stablecoin balances to fund certain payment flows, expanding the role of digital dollars in cross-border payments without requiring recipients to receive cryptocurrency.
The announcements, made on October 15, focus on how payments are funded before money reaches the recipient. Visa is using Inyo Global to support USDC prefunding for eligible Visa Direct cross-border payout clients. Mastercard is making a similar capability available through its Global Money Platform and BVNK, connecting stablecoin balances with bank payouts delivered in local currencies.
According to CryptoSlate, the initiatives give businesses another way to supply funds for international payments. They do not mean that recipients must hold USDC or another digital asset. In the Mastercard arrangement, for example, a business can draw on a stablecoin balance while the recipient receives conventional money in a bank account.
Visa adds USDC prefunding through Inyo
Visa identified Inyo Global, a payments infrastructure provider, as the first company to bring its Visa Direct stablecoin prefunding capability into commercial production. The service is intended for eligible Visa Direct clients and partners rather than being presented as a general-purpose facility for every user.
Inyo works with money transmitters, fintech companies, banks and other payments businesses. Through the integration, those customers can prefund cross-border payouts with USDC in near real time, Visa said. Inyo says the service operates around the clock through the same application programming interfaces, or APIs, that its customers already use.
Prefunding refers to supplying money to a payment system before the payout is made. In cross-border transactions, businesses traditionally need to position funds in advance through established banking and payment arrangements. The new route gives participating businesses the option of using USDC for that funding stage, while the final payment can continue through the established Visa Direct payout network.
The announcements did not provide transaction-volume figures or quantify any fee savings from the Visa route. They also specified that access is limited to eligible clients and partners.
Mastercard links stablecoin balances to local bank payments
Mastercard said its Global Money Platform is now available through BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure company. The offering combines fiat and stablecoin accounts, conversion services and payout functions that banks, fintechs and enterprises can use within their own products or for treasury and payment operations.
The arrangement uses Mastercard Move to connect the platform with bank payouts. A business can use a stablecoin balance as the source of funds, have that balance converted as needed, and send the recipient money in the recipient’s local currency through a conventional bank account. This separates the currency used by the business to fund a payment from the currency ultimately received by the payee.
Businesses may contract directly with BVNK and use its portal or API for treasury and payout activity. Product documentation also says companies can embed accounts and payment services under their own brands through an API, with BVNK handling customer onboarding. The integration names USDC and OUSD among the stablecoins that can be accessed.
Nuvei and Marqeta are expected to be among the first companies to integrate the Mastercard platform as part of the planned rollout. Mastercard said it expects payout support to grow to more than 40 currencies across more than 200 countries and territories in 2027. That figure is an expansion target, not a reported level already reached by the service.
Why the announcements matter
Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to maintain a value linked to a reference asset, commonly a national currency such as the US dollar. USDC is one example. In these arrangements, the stablecoin is used on the funding side of the transaction, while established payment rails and bank accounts remain part of the delivery process.
The announcements therefore represent an infrastructure change rather than a claim that cross-border recipients will be paid in crypto. They give participating businesses an additional funding mechanism and may allow payment providers to connect stablecoin liquidity with existing payout systems. However, the companies disclosed no measured stablecoin payment volume or realized reduction in fees for the newly announced routes.
Market picture
Moneyiar market data at 21:58 on October 17, 2026, put USDC at $0.9997656066, down 0.01% over 24 hours and 0.01% over seven days. The source material also identified USDC as the sixth-largest crypto asset by market capitalization.
At 21:59, Moneyiar data showed Cronos at $0.0565784921, down 2.64% over 24 hours and 7.14% over seven days. Aster was priced at $0.6975111966, down 1.28% over 24 hours and 2.02% over seven days, while STABLE stood at $0.0254595271, down 2.8% over 24 hours and 6.56% over seven days.
