Both major card networks now let issuers settle in stablecoins. Visa opened USDC settlement to US issuers in December 2025, and Mastercard announced its own stablecoin settlement in June 2026.
For cardholders, nothing changes at checkout. For card programs, the change is in the back office. Issuers that settle with the network in stablecoins can do so seven days a week, including holidays, shortening the period of unsettled spend that collateral has to cover.
That does not remove prefunding or network fees. It changes how often an issuer meets its obligations, how much spend accumulates between settlement cycles, and how much working capital may have to sit behind the program.
This analysis draws on How to Launch a Stablecoin Card Program, based on more than 30 card programs tracked by Paymentscan and interviews with issuers and operators.
How Card Settlement Creates a Collateral Requirement
A card purchase is authorised in seconds, but the money moves later. The issuer settles with the card network, which settles with the merchant’s side. Until that happens, the spend is unsettled, and the network requires collateral against it.
On traditional rails, settlement happens on banking days. A purchase made on a Friday evening may not settle until Monday, allowing a weekend of spend to accumulate before the issuer meets its obligation. Holidays can extend the window further.
That gap is why card programs prefund. Visa requires settlement collateral from issuers. An issuer either passes that requirement on to its programs or posts the collateral itself and recovers the cost elsewhere.
The amount a program has to provide therefore depends on more than its transaction volume. Settlement frequency determines how many days of spending the issuer or program must be ready to cover at once.
Visa and Mastercard Are Opening Onchain Settlement
The two networks have moved at different speeds and currently support different settlement currencies.
Visa
Visa started stablecoin settlement with USDC and opened it to US issuers in December 2025. It also accepts EURC, Circle’s euro stablecoin, and other fiat currencies are expected to follow. Most stablecoin card settlement today runs through Visa.
The volumes are already large. Visa has reported $20 billion in annualised stablecoin card settlement volume.
In September 2026, Paymentscan estimated from onchain data that Wirex’s EURC settlements alone made up approximately $500 million of that volume, up from zero a year earlier.
Mastercard
Mastercard announced stablecoin settlement in June 2026. As of November 2026, it accepts USD stablecoins only, so a Mastercard program that wants onchain settlement settles in dollars.
The network distinction matters less to cardholders than it does to the issuer. A consumer still pays with a Visa or Mastercard card while the stablecoin movement happens between the issuer and network behind the transaction.
What Daily Settlement Changes for a Program
Stablecoin settlement affects three parts of the treasury model.
Settlement every day. Issuers that settle in stablecoins can do so seven days a week, including holidays, rather than waiting for banking days.
Less unsettled spend. Daily settlement can keep the unsettled window to approximately one day, compared with a weekend or longer on traditional rails. Issuers that settle this way claim smaller collateral requirements for program managers as a result.
Less working capital tied up. Under a master-account model, a program prefunds several days of spend. Wirex requires a minimum of $50,000 with a recommended buffer of three to five days of volume, while operators told us Rain’s proposals ask for approximately four days.
The faster an issuer settles, the fewer days that buffer may have to cover:
| Traditional Settlement | Stablecoin Settlement | |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement days | Traditional SettlementBanking days | Stablecoin SettlementSeven days a week, including holidays |
| Unsettled spend over a weekend | Traditional SettlementFriday evening to Monday | Stablecoin SettlementApproximately one day |
| Collateral | Traditional SettlementCovers several days of spend | Stablecoin SettlementSmaller, according to issuers |
| Settlement currencies | Traditional SettlementAny currency registered for the BIN | Stablecoin SettlementUSD and EUR on Visa; USD on Mastercard |
The operational benefit is therefore not that stablecoins remove collateral. It is that more frequent settlement can reduce the maximum amount of unsettled card spending accumulating at one time.
What Stablecoin Settlement Does Not Fix
Onchain settlement changes the timing and funding of the issuer’s obligation. It does not remove the rest of the card-payment cost structure.
Currency coverage remains limited. Onchain settlement only works in currencies for which the network accepts a stablecoin. Today, that means USD and EUR on Visa and USD on Mastercard.
Each currency needs its own position. Each settlement currency requires its own prefunded position with the network, which may add to an issuer’s total collateral requirements.
Most spend still settles in dollars. Most stablecoin card spend still settles with Visa and Mastercard in USD. Rain, which processed 43% of the spend Paymentscan could attribute to an issuer last quarter, settles in USD only.
For cardholders using USD-only cards internationally, total fees typically reach 2%–3%. Stablecoin settlement does not prevent those costs because the card’s issuing location and settlement currency can still differ from the merchant’s.
Network fees still apply. Stablecoin settlement changes when and how an issuer pays the network. What the network charges on a purchase still depends on where the card was issued relative to the merchant’s acquirer and whether the transaction currencies match.
Our analysis of crypto card costs abroad explains how issuance location, settlement currency, network fees, and FX interact.
Stablecoin settlement should therefore be separated from multi-currency settlement and local issuance. Daily settlement addresses timing and working capital. Multi-currency settlement addresses currency conversion. Local issuance addresses whether a transaction is treated as domestic or cross-border.
Network Choice Still Follows the Issuer
For most programs, the issuer determines whether the card runs on Visa or Mastercard. An issuer can only place a program on a network where it or its sponsor holds the required membership.
Wirex, Stripe through Bridge, and Rain support both Visa and Mastercard. StraitsX and Interlace issue on Visa in the programs covered by our guide.
Acceptance is close to equal in most markets, and the networks’ fees differ only slightly. The network also signs off on the program and card design, which is one reason custom physical cards can take months to launch.
For a program manager, the issuer’s coverage, funding model, settlement setup, and operating support usually matter more than selecting a network in isolation. Our comparison of stablecoin card issuers covers those differences separately.
Questions to Ask About Settlement
Before selecting an issuer, a program should establish:
- Whether the issuer settles with the network in stablecoins and how often
- Which stablecoins and chains are used for settlement
- Which settlement currencies are available
- Whether every currency requires a separate prefunded position
- How the reserve or collateral requirement is calculated
- How that requirement changes as card volume grows
- Which network the card would use in each issuing market
These questions distinguish stablecoin support at the funding layer from actual stablecoin settlement with the card network. An issuer may accept stablecoins from a program without using them to settle its scheme obligations onchain.
Conclusion
Stablecoin settlement does not change how a cardholder pays. Its effect sits in the treasury layer behind the card.
Settling every day can shorten the period of unsettled spend and reduce the working capital required to cover it. The benefit is most relevant to programs using master accounts or other prefunded models, where several days of card volume may otherwise sit with the issuer.
The limits matter just as much. Stablecoin settlement does not remove collateral, network fees, cross-border charges, or currency conversion. It changes one part of the system: how frequently an issuer pays the network and how much unsettled spending accumulates between those payments.
Get the Full Guide
This analysis draws on How to Launch a Stablecoin Card Program, Paymentscan’s free guide based on more than 30 card programs tracked by Paymentscan and interviews with issuers and operators. It also covers markets and currencies, issuer selection, economics, and custody models.
Disclaimer: Wirex sponsors Paymentscan’s platform and research. This article draws on our guide, How to Launch a Stablecoin Card Program, which is based on conversations with several issuers. Paymentscan retained full editorial control.