Visa doubles down on stablecoins in Europe, Middle East, Africa with new partnership

Visa has partnered with crypto infrastructure company Aquanow to expand stablecoin settlement across the CEMEA region, cutting cross-border costs and friction.

Visa is expanding its use of stablecoins for settlement in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) through a new partnership with crypto infrastructure company Aquanow.

In an announcement Thursday, Visa said it partnered with Aquanow “to settle transactions using approved stablecoins such as USDC, reducing costs, operational friction, and settlement times.” The company said the move came amid strong demand from banks and payment companies for faster, cheaper cross-border payments.

The move aims to leverage stablecoins to digitize the back end of money movement and to enable 24/7 settlement. Godfrey Sullivan, Visa’s head of product and solutions for the CEMEA region, said the integration will allow institutions in the region “to experience faster and simpler settlements.”

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