Visa expands stablecoin initiatives in CEMEA, partners with African fintech Yellow Card

Visa announced on Thursday significant advancements in its stablecoin initiatives, with expanded settlement capabilities in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) region and a strategic partnership with
Yellow Card
, a leading pan-African fintech.
Visa's latest efforts further underscore its vision for transforming money movement and building the next generation of payment infrastructure through innovative technology. With the payments landscape more dynamic and competitive than ever, stablecoins are emerging as one of the most promising tools for faster and more accessible digital payments
'In 2025, 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,' said Godfrey Sullivan, Visa's senior vice president and head of product and solution for CEMEA.
Enabling USD cross-border transactions through blockchain
Visa said it is expanding its stablecoin settlement solution to select issuers and acquirers in CEMEA, enabling USD cross-border transactions through blockchain technology. This initiative helps reduce settlement costs, enhances liquidity management and can support 365-day settlements, including weekends and holidays.
In 2023, the digital payments leader became one of the first major networks to settle transactions in stablecoin when it piloted enabling clients to fulfill their settlement obligations in USDC. To date, over $225 million in stablecoin volume has been settled through Visa across participating clients.
Read: How regulation and innovation are positioning the UAE as a global leader in emerging market investments
Exploring stablecoin use cases
Visa is also partnering with Yellow Card, a leading pan-African fintech, to explore stablecoin use cases and opportunities across markets where Yellow Card is licensed to operate to help streamline treasury operations and enhance liquidity management.
'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,' said Chris Maurice, co-founder and CEO of Yellow Card.
The partnership seeks to test integration opportunities with Visa Direct to further investigate and expand cross-border payment options. As one of the world's largest digital payments networks, Visa Direct enables secure and seamless funds delivery across more than 190 countries and territories.

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