Lloyds Completes USDC-Based Payments Pilot with Visa

Lloyds Banking Group has successfully completed a pilot project using USDC to settle payments with Visa. The bank transferred $750,000 in real settlement obligations over seven days, with funds arriving at Visa within an hour, even on weekends.

The pilot, which began on September 30 and concluded on October 2, used USDC purchased through U.K. digital-asset firm Archax. Lloyds sent the settlement funds to Visa in the United States via its Jersey branch. This experiment demonstrates the potential of stablecoins like USDC for inter-institutional settlements.

Peter Left, head of digital assets at Lloyds, said that settling real payment obligations with USDC allowed the bank to test the technology in a live environment.