Singapore-based payments infrastructure company Nium has joined Visa's stablecoin settlement pilot, the company confirmed on 12 November 2025. The membership enables Nium's bank and fintech clients to settle cross-border payment flows in USD Coin, the dollar-pegged stablecoin commonly known as USDC, directly on-chain rather than through traditional correspondent banking channels. The agreement positions Nium at the frontier of a significant ongoing shift in how major payment networks are beginning to approach final settlement in the digital era.
Nium is among fewer than ten payment-network participants selected for Visa's initial stablecoin settlement cohort, making it one of a small and carefully chosen group of early movers in what the card network has positioned as a new settlement infrastructure layer for international payments. That selectivity reflects Visa's intention to run a carefully managed, tightly scoped pilot before determining the conditions under which the programme might be extended to a larger portion of its global network of financial institution partners and payment processors.
REDUCING FX FLOAT THROUGH ON-CHAIN SETTLEMENT
A central commercial argument for the integration is the reduction of foreign exchange float costs. In conventional cross-border payments, funds can be in transit for one to several business days, during which time banks and payment firms must pre-fund accounts in destination currencies, tying up working capital and creating FX exposure. Settling in USDC on-chain collapses that window, allowing near-real-time finality and releasing the capital that would otherwise sit idle in nostro and vostro accounts maintained across multiple correspondent banking relationships around the world.
For Nium, which connects banks, financial institutions and fintech companies to a global payments network spanning more than 100 markets, the ability to offer USDC settlement adds an on-chain option alongside its existing fiat rails. The company's client base — predominantly businesses handling high-volume cross-border transactions — stands to benefit most directly from improved settlement efficiency and reduced pre-funding requirements, which translate into lower operational costs and improved cash flow management for corporate treasuries.
STABLECOINS GAINING TRACTION IN WHOLESALE PAYMENTS
Visa's stablecoin settlement programme reflects a growing institutional interest in using regulated stablecoins for payments infrastructure rather than for speculative or investment purposes. By limiting its initial cohort to fewer than ten participants, Visa appears to be prioritising a controlled, carefully monitored pilot before any broader rollout, allowing it to evaluate on-chain settlement behaviour across a manageable set of counterparties and address any operational or compliance considerations before scaling the model to a larger portion of its network.
Nium's inclusion in the pilot signals the growing relevance of Asia Pacific-headquartered payments firms in global blockchain-based settlement infrastructure. The company, which holds payment licences across multiple jurisdictions and has built its business on connecting fragmented regional payment systems through a unified platform, gains credibility from its association with Visa's programme at this early stage. The USDC integration extends Nium's connectivity into the on-chain settlement layer that a number of global networks are now beginning to formalise, and its position as a founding cohort participant could prove commercially advantageous as the model evolves and additional clients seek a provider with proven stablecoin settlement experience.