Overview
- Bridge-enabled Visa cards are live in 18 countries today, with a planned expansion across Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East to surpass 100 countries by the end of 2026.
- The program lets consumers spend stablecoin balances at more than 175 million Visa-accepting merchant locations through cards issued by fintechs using Bridge’s infrastructure.
- Visa’s on‑chain settlement pilot now includes Lead Bank and uses Bridge’s tooling so select issuers and acquirers can settle obligations in stablecoins over supported blockchains.
- The pilot evaluates on‑chain reconciliation and faster fund movement, as well as the role of platforms like Bridge in simplifying blockchain interactions for institutions.
- Visa is assessing potential support for Bridge‑issued assets in future payment and settlement flows, while reports note Bridge has conditional OCC trust charter approval and peers like Mastercard are running parallel stablecoin initiatives.