@LloydsBank and @Visa have moved their stablecoin experiment from proof-of-concept into a live, real-money environment. The two institutions completed a seven-day pilot in which Lloyds settle
@LloydsBank and @Visa have moved their stablecoin experiment from proof-of-concept into a live, real-money environment. The two institutions completed a seven-day pilot in which Lloyds settled $750,000 of payment obligations to Visa using $USDC, with funds arriving in under an hour on each transfer.
The trial was designed to address practical problems that financial institutions face when moving funds between jurisdictions. Cross-border settlement can involve different banking systems, operating hours, and financial infrastructures, creating delays and uncertainty around when funds become available. Under the current correspondent-banking model, that process can take a day or more. The pilot moved $750,000 in U.S. dollar obligations to Visa in under an hour, including over the weekend.
The test focused on settlement, the process through which financial institutions exchange funds to complete and reconcile payment activity, rather than on how payments are made. Through a series of real-world transactions, the two companies assessed how stablecoins could operate alongside existing settlement processes and measured the effect on speed, transparency, and operations.
Lloyds purchased the $USDC used in the pilot through @ArchaxEx, a UK-regulated digital asset exchange.@ArchaxEx is the first exchange in the UK to receive authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a digital securities exchange, broker, and crypto custodian.The settlement obligation was booked through Lloyds' Corporate Markets branch in Jersey before $USDC was transferred to Visa in the US.
The pilot also tested settlement across private and public blockchain environments. Lloyds operated its own node on @CantonNetwork, using the network's configurable privacy features, while Visa supported settlement on a separate public blockchain. The companies said this demonstrated interoperability between the two networks.
This is significant because $USDC was not being used by a crypto exchange or fintech to move customer money. It was being used between a major commercial bank and one of the world's largest card networks for institutional settlement. The Lloyds-Visa pilot fits into a broader push by Visa to scale stablecoin rails: the payments giant's stablecoin settlement pilot has reached a $7 billion annualized run rate, up 50% from the prior quarter.
Sources:The Paypers: Visa and Lloyds pilot stablecoin settlement for cross-border paymentsTokenization Insight: Visa and Lloyds Use Stablecoin for Bank-to-Card-Network SettlementCoinDesk: Visa Expands Stablecoin Settlement Network as Volume Hits $7 Billion Run Rate
