Visa Links Card Settlement Data to Onchain Lending; Borrowing Costs Fall by Up to 30% for Card Operators Using Credit Lines

On September 8, local time, Visa unveiled a lending model that uses VisaNet settlement data to help companies operating stablecoin-based card services borrow the funds they need for daily settlement. Visa described the model as bridging the funding gap that arises when card operators must pay Visa before receiving payments from their customers. Rain, a Visa member that supports stablecoin card services worldwide and makes settlement payments directly to Visa, has used a revolving credit facility operated by Credit Coop since August 2023 to borrow stablecoins and use them to settle with Visa. Lenders participating in the facility supply the loan principal, while Rain borrows against future card receivables and can borrow again within its credit limit as it repays. Credit Coop, a third party registered with Visa, receives Visa's daily settlement files directly with the card operator's authorization. It checks these files alongside repayment records on the blockchain to manage credit limits, loan disbursements and repayments. Smart contracts automate disbursements, collateral management and repayments. In particular, a smart contract called Spigot diverts the portion needed for loan repayment from incoming customer payments before the funds reach the operator's operating account. Visa compared this to executing a bank lockbox arrangement, in which a creditor controls the collection account, through code rather than manual intervention. Visa said borrowing costs for card operators using these facilities had fallen by up to 30% as more lenders became familiar with underwriting such credit facilities. Citing figures provided by Credit Coop, Visa said more than $2.5 billion in cumulative settlement financing had been supplied since 2023, of which approximately $2 billion was attributable to Rain, which has used the facility since August 2023. Visa also said no defaults had occurred across the participating credit facilities. According to figures provided by Credit Coop, the numbers of onchain borrowing and repayment transactions exceeded 3,000 and 9,000, respectively, as of August 19, 2026. Earlier, in its fiscal second-quarter 2026 earnings announcement on April 29, 2026, Visa said more than 160 stablecoin-linked card services were operating on its network and payment volume through those services had grown by nearly 200% year over year. It also said stablecoin settlement volume had recently surpassed an annualized $20 billion, more than 15 times the previous year's level.