Visa Integrates USDC Payments on Solana in 180 Countries

Global payment giant Visa has officially announced the full-scale integration of the USDC stablecoin on the Solana blockchain for direct payments via Visa cards in 180 countriesworldwide. This means millions of users can now spend USDC straight from their card without mandatory fiat conversion, with a fee of just 0.3%. The move makes Visa the first traditional payment provider to mass-adopt crypto settlements on the ultra-fast Solana blockchain, bypassing slow bank transfers.We have provided more details about Visa-based crypto cards in one of our previous posts.

How it works

• Visa cardholders (physical or virtual) can spend USDC directly from a linked wallet. Transactions are processed on Solana - a blockchain capable of up to 2,000 TPS with average network fees under $0.001. Visa partnered with Worldpay, Nuvei, and Paxos to enable instant top-ups and withdrawals.
• Visa’s fixed rate for stablecoin transactions - dramatically lower than traditional cross-border fees (3-5% at banks). Combined with Solana’s micro-fees, everyday payments become virtually free.
• The rollout covers Visa’s entire global network (200+ countries), with full crypto-card support in 180 markets including Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the US. Ukrainian users can activate it via partner banks and wallets like MetaMask or Phantom.

Why Solana + USDC?

Visa chose Solana for its massive advantages over Ethereum: speed (400–2,000 TPS vs Ethereum’s 30 TPS) and near-zero costs. The partnership began in 2023 with USDC settlement pilots for merchants. In 2025 it evolved into full consumer integration supporting USDC, USDT, PYUSD, and others across Solana, Ethereum, Stellar, and Avalanche.

Quote from Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa:

“By leveraging stablecoins like USDC and high-speed networks like Solana, we’re accelerating cross-border commerce and giving clients a modern way to move money - without touching fiat”

What’s next?

Visa plans to roll out mint/burn capabilities for partner banks and integrate with Visa Direct for P2P transfers. This isn’t a pilot - it’s mass adoption that could displace traditional wire transfers entirely. Full rollout to 200+ countries and native Apple Pay/Google Pay support expected in 2026.