Visa is strengthening its stablecoin settlement capabilities in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region through a new partnership with Aquanow, a digital asset platform specialising in liquidity and infrastructure solutions.

The agreement will see the global digital payments leader integrate Aquanow's digital asset infrastructure into its technology stack, with the move enabling its network of issuers and acquirers to settle transactions using approved stablecoins such as USDC.

The initiative aims to reduce costs, operational friction and settlement times, the payments giant said on Thursday.

The company added that the move responds to strong demand from financial institutions for faster and cheaper cross-border transactions, with Visa currently leveraging stablecoins to digitise the backend of money movements, supporting payments 365 days a year.

In 2023, Visa became one of the first major payment networks to settle transactions in stablecoins when it launched a pilot project allowing customers to fulfil their settlement obligations in USDC.

To date, monthly volume has exceeded $2.5 billion on an annualised basis, the firm said.

Godfrey Sullivan, head of products and solutions for CEMEA at Visa, said that the growing role of stablecoins, combined with Visa's technology, will enable financial institutions in the CEMEA region to make faster and easier settlements.

“Our partnership with Aquanow is another key step in modernising the back-end rails of payments, reducing reliance on traditional systems with multiple intermediaries, and preparing institutions for the future of money movement,” he continued.

Earlier this month, Visa announced a pilot scheme which will enable businesses and platforms to send payments directly to stablecoin wallets.

For businesses using Visa Direct, payouts can be funded in fiat currency, while recipients can choose to receive their funds in US dollar-backed stablecoins like USDC.

Visa Direct is a VisaNet processing capability that allows real-time funds to be delivered directly to financial accounts using card credentials.

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