Visa Ties Lending Decisions to Card Payment Settlements

Visa has launched an initiative to combine its traditional payment settlement data with blockchain-based lending infrastructure, allowing lenders to evaluate borrowers and provide financing against card payments. The move aims to bring together on-chain lending and everyday payment settlement.

The company will link VisaNet settlement records with onchain transaction data to help lenders assess creditworthiness and support financing tied to card payment flows. This approach reframes onchain lending around payment settlement rather than relying solely on typical crypto collateral or internal onchain histories.

Visa highlighted Credit Coop, a blockchain-based protocol that extends credit lines to businesses, as an early example of the settlement-and-lending approach. The company claims that since 2023, more than $2.5 billion in cumulative settlement volume has been financed through Credit Coop across participating facilities.

Visa's stablecoin-linked card ecosystem is growing rapidly, with over 160 stablecoin-linked card programs operating on its network and payment volume up nearly 200% year-over-year. The company also notes that its stablecoin settlement volume has exceeded a $20 billion annualized run rate, more than 15 times year-ago levels.