TheBlock
Lloyds and Visa settled $750,000 in payment obligations using USDC during a seven-day live cross-border pilot. Lloyds bought the stablecoin through UK-regulated digital asset exchange Archax, booked the U.S. dollar settlements through its Corporate Markets branch in Jersey and transferred the funds to Visa in the U.S. The funds reached Visa in under an hour, including during the weekend, Lloyds said.
Why it matters
The pilot tested settlement between financial institutions, not payments made by customers. Lloyds described it as the first stablecoin settlement trial between Visa and a major UK banking group. The bank said conventional cross-border settlement can take a day or more when initiated outside banking hours.
The trial also tested different blockchain infrastructure. Lloyds ran its own node on the Canton Network, while Visa supported settlement on a separate, unnamed public blockchain. Lloyds Head of Digital Assets Peter Left said settling live obligations moved the work beyond theory and into a real-world test.
Market impact
The $750,000 trial adds a live bank-to-payment-network example to Visa's growing stablecoin settlement program. Visa's stablecoin settlement volume surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate last month. In April, it added Canton and four other blockchains to its pilot, bringing the total to nine.
For payments investors, the result demonstrates faster settlement across a weekend, but it does not establish that customer payments will change. Lloyds is also exploring tokenized bank money: it was among six major UK banks that began a live pilot of tokenized sterling deposits last year.
Frequently asked questions
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How quickly did the funds reach Visa?
Lloyds said the funds reached Visa in under an hour, including during the weekend.
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Did the pilot change how Lloyds or Visa customers made payments?
No. The trial covered settlement of obligations between the financial institutions, not payments made by customers.
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How did Lloyds obtain the USDC used in the trial?
Lloyds purchased USDC through Archax, a UK-regulated digital asset exchange.
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Which blockchain infrastructure did Lloyds and Visa test?
Lloyds ran its own node on the Canton Network. Visa supported settlement on a separate public blockchain that was not named.
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How does this trial fit into Visa's stablecoin settlement program?
Visa's stablecoin settlement volume surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate last month. Its settlement pilot spans nine blockchains.
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