Visa has formed a partnership with African fintech company Yellow Card to extend its stablecoin settlement system within the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) region.
The collaboration is set to explore the application of stablecoin technology to facilitate treasury operations and liquidity management for cross-border transactions.
It will enable USD transactions across borders using blockchain technology, aiming to reduce settlement costs and allow for continuous settlements, including on weekends and holidays.
Visa has already seen over $225m in stablecoin transactions settled through its network among participating clients.
The partnership will investigate stablecoin use cases in jurisdictions where Yellow Card operates, with the intention of integrating these solutions with Visa Direct to improve cross-border payment services.
Visa CEMEA Product and Solution head and senior vice president Godfrey Sullivan stated: “We’re excited to team up with Yellow Card to enable faster and more accessible digital payments. We believe that every institution that moves money will need a stablecoin strategy. As more players in the payments ecosystem explore this powerful new technology, Visa stands ready to help our partners navigate the transformation, bringing the scale, trust and innovation needed to help build the next generation of global payments.”
Yellow Card co-founder and CEO Chris Maurice said: “Together with Visa, we’re building a bridge between traditional finance and the future of money movement. We look forward to continuing to innovate new solutions that can transform how money moves for even more secure, efficient, and transparent payment solutions.”
According to Yellow Card senior legal counsel Edline Murungi, Kenya’s draft Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill is the most progressive in Africa, Bloomberg reported.
He was quoted by Bloomberg as saying: “Those use cases are going to really change the industry. And if other countries follow suit, then Kenya is going to be a hub for a lot of digital-asset activities.”
Last month, Visa invested in BVNK, a stablecoin payments firm based in South Africa.
“Visa, Yellow Card team up to expedite stablecoin adoption ” was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand.
