Game-changer: Visa just expanded stablecoin settlement capabilities 😳; Amazon strengthens its digital wallet with new BNPL option 💳; N26 loses another top executive 😔

FinTech is Eating the World, 5 September

Hey Everyone,

Happy Tuesday! Today’s issue is burning hot as we’re looking at Visa which just expanded stablecoin settlement capabilities (why it’s a game-changer + more bonus deep dives), Amazon that just strengthened its digital wallet with a new BNPL option (why it’s a good move + looking closely at Klarna, which is also becoming a competitor), and N26 that loses another top executive (this is becoming a worrying trend + bonus read on why N26 should exit Brazil asap). Let’s jump straight into the fascinating stuff 🌶

Game-changer: Visa just expanded stablecoin settlement capabilities 😳

The news 🗞️ Financial technology powerhouse Visa V 0.00%↑ is expanding its stablecoin settlement capabilities to the Solana blockchain and is also working with merchant acquirers Worldpay and Nuvei.

This is a BIG deal, so let’s take a look.

More on this 👉 We must remember that the payments giant has been working with issuers of stablecoins since 2021 and the latest move is part of Visa looking into settlement options to send funds onchain and hence speed up settlement times for their merchants.

By leveraging stablecoins like USDC and global blockchain networks like Solana and Ethereum, Visa helping to improve the speed of cross-border settlement and providing a modern option for merchant acquirers like Worldpay and Nuvei to easily send or receive funds from Visa’s treasury.

Using its own account with USDC outfit Circle, Visa can now manage settlement payouts in USDC to Worldpay and Nuvei who can then route these payments in USDC to their end merchants.

✈️ THE TAKEAWAY

What’s next? 🤔 This development from Visa is a massive one as it has the potential to revolutionize dollar settlements between institutions by taking advantage of crypto's speed and global accessibility. It makes cross-border dollar payments faster, cheaper, and available 24/7. The funds can be sent instantly rather than having to wait days (or sometimes - even weeks). Thus, acquirers (payment processors like Worldpay or Nuvei) can receive funds instantly from Visa after a transaction, rather than waiting days. They can then instantly pay merchants, eliminating settlement risk. More importantly, it not only validates the value of stablecoins for cheaper and faster cross-border payments. Also, this unlocks huge potential across the whole payments ecosystem and can modernize the entire cross-border finance value chain. Zooming out, this means that Visa is not only quietly bringing crypto to one billion users. More importantly, it shows that stablecoins might eventually become the de facto interbank settlement solution via card networks. In other words, Visa is de-banking the banks… 👀 Huge.

ICYMI: Visa & Mastercard eye credit card fees increase 👀💳 [+ more reads & deeper dives]

Game-changer: Visa just made P2P payments interoperable 🤯💳 [one of the biggest payments developments this year!]