Visa Partners Yellow Card to Cut Cross-Border Payment Costs by 80%

Visa has announced a strategic partnership with Yellow Card to expand stablecoin services across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA). This collaboration aims to enhance cross-border payment solutions and optimize liquidity and fund management for businesses and individuals in the region. The initiative seeks to reduce cross-border payment costs by up to 80% using USD stablecoins, reflecting a growing integration of digital payment technologies.

Visa's collaboration with Yellow Card is poised to significantly cut remittance costs, potentially repeating the 80% reduction Visa achieved with its earlier stablecoin pilot programs. The partnership will delve into integrating Yellow Card's stablecoin infrastructure with Visa's real-time bank-to-card payment service, Visa Direct. This integration is expected to facilitate cross-border stablecoin payments, making transactions more efficient and transparent. By leveraging blockchain technology, Visa aims to reduce settlement costs and support 365-day settlements, including weekends and holidays. This initiative underscores Visa's commitment to modernizing the settlement infrastructure and building the next generation of payment systems.

Visa's expansion into stablecoin settlements is part of a broader vision to transform money movement. Godfrey Sullivan, Visa’s Senior Vice President and Head of Product and Solution for CEMEA, emphasized the growing importance of stablecoins in the payments ecosystem. He stated that by 2025, every institution involved in money movement will need a stablecoin strategy. This partnership with Yellow Card is a step towards achieving this vision, providing the scale, trust, and innovation necessary to drive global payments forward.

The collaboration with Yellow Card is not just about technological integration but also about fostering innovation in the payments sector. Chris Maurice, Co-Founder and CEO of Yellow Card, highlighted the potential of this partnership to bridge traditional finance with the future of money movement. The goal is to create more secure, efficient, and transparent payment solutions that can benefit a broader range of users.

Visa's stablecoin settlement solution, which enables USD cross-border transactions through blockchain technology, has already shown promise. In 2023, Visa became one of the first major payments networks to settle transactions in stablecoin, piloting the use of USDC for settlement obligations. This initiative has facilitated over $225 million in stablecoin volume across participating clients, demonstrating the potential of stablecoins in the payments landscape.

The partnership with Yellow Card is expected to further enhance Visa's capabilities in cross-border money movement. Visa Direct, one of the world’s largest digital payments networks, enables secure and seamless funds delivery across more than 190 countries and territories. By integrating Yellow Card's stablecoin infrastructure with Visa Direct, the partnership aims to expand cross-border payment options and improve the overall efficiency of the payments ecosystem.

In summary, Visa's expansion of stablecoin services with Yellow Card represents a significant step towards modernizing the payments infrastructure. By leveraging blockchain technology and strategic partnerships, Visa is positioning itself at the forefront of the stablecoin revolution, aiming to create a more efficient, secure, and transparent payments ecosystem. The collaboration is expected to bolster crypto adoption in CEMEA through stablecoins, with regulatory engagement and technology innovations underpinning future success. This will enhance transaction efficiency alongside financial inclusion efforts in emerging markets.