Visa, Stablecoins and Agentic Commerce: Chief Executive Sees Comparable Economics

Chief Executive Ryan McInerney said Tuesday that Visa expects financial returns from stablecoins and agent-driven commerce to align with the card network’s current model.

Visa’s Bridge for New Payment Use Cases

As these payment rails mature, he said the company is building a bridge layer that connects real-world use cases with providers operating on blockchain networks.

Economics of Stablecoin Payments

McInerney explained that paying with a Visa debit funded by a stablecoin in a digital wallet at everyday merchants would carry economics similar to existing card programs. A stablecoin payment is a transaction funded by a token designed to track the value of a traditional currency, with the stablecoin held in a wallet or account and used either to move value on a blockchain or to fund a payment credential used at checkout.

He added that the hyperscale bridge aims to deliver practical utility for buyers and sellers while preserving a cost and revenue profile consistent with today’s global network and transaction volume. In Visa’s ecosystem, the stablecoin component is typically handled through participating issuers and payment providers: the card transaction still runs through standard acceptance rails and the merchant is paid in local currency, while the stablecoin may be used to fund the consumer’s balance or to settle between program participants.

McInerney’s description reflects a direction Visa has been pursuing through select partner programs and pilots rather than a single, universal capability available to every issuer, wallet, and merchant. In those setups, the supported stablecoin and wallet experience depends on the program partner; Visa has publicly discussed settlement using fiat-backed stablecoins such as USD Coin, including activity on networks such as Ethereum and Solana.

Visa has not publicly announced using the xrp token for stablecoin payments, and it has not disclosed any stablecoin-payment integration or partnership built around xrp.

Stablecoin-linked cards are Visa credentials that are tied to a user’s stablecoin balance with a participating provider; the user pays like a typical debit card transaction, while the program provider handles the stablecoin funding and any conversion needed to complete settlement through the existing card flow.

Potential advantages of using stablecoins for payments can include faster settlement, lower end-to-end costs in some flows, improved transaction traceability on public networks, and broader access for users who prefer holding a digital-dollar balance.

Visa-as-a-Service Strategy and Value-Added Growth

To support companies working in blockchain, stablecoin tools, and agentic solutions, Visa is unbundling capabilities under its Visa-as-a-Service approach for onchain solutions.

The chief executive noted that the enhanced services line now generates roughly 30% of revenue, tied to transactions, cards, and accounts, and that artificial intelligence will further reinforce these offerings as a multiyear growth driver.

For businesses looking to integrate stablecoins into payments, that unbundling can translate into using Visa-enabled programs through an issuing or acquiring partner, connecting via API-driven card issuance and payment workflows, and aligning settlement and treasury processes with the stablecoin and wallet provider used in the program.

Agentic Commerce and Business-to-Business Digitization

Beyond stablecoins, Visa expects agentic commerce—where consumer-directed agents transact on behalf of people—to lift transaction volume.

He predicted these agents will speed the shift to digital in business-to-business money movement by stripping out persistent friction.

• Trigger payments straight from invoices and contracts.
• Manage approvals autonomously.
• Favor virtual cards as preferred rails.
• Use tokenization for security.

The company also expects cards to remain the leading method for agent-initiated purchases thanks to fraud protections, know-your-customer data, and loyalty rewards.

McInerney emphasized that security across the network and user trust will be foundational for such transactions.

Security, Scale, and Data

Visa, based in San Francisco, handles extensive transaction volume, providing data to manage transaction risk, identity risk, and fraud.

He said safeguarding payments will only get harder, and the value of security will keep rising.

Security and user trust have to be built into every layer, especially as stablecoin value moves and automated agents initiate transactions at scale.

Regulatory and compliance considerations also shape how stablecoin payments can be deployed, including requirements tied to customer due diligence, anti-money-laundering controls, sanctions screening, licensing obligations, and the roles of issuers, wallet providers, and settlement partners.

Quarterly Results and Business Updates

The largest card network in the United States reported a 17% year-over-year increase in fiscal second-quarter net revenue to $11.2 billion, its strongest jump in four years, driven by payment growth, cross-border activity, and transaction processing; net income climbed 32% to $6 billion.

In cross-border use cases, stablecoins can be used by converting funds into a stablecoin, transferring it to a recipient or payment partner on a blockchain, and then converting back into local currency for payout or settlement. The approach can reduce banking cutoffs and enable round-the-clock movement, though it still depends on liquidity, compliant on- and off-ramps, and operational controls around fraud and disputes.

Despite April travel headwinds, revenue strength reflected solid payment volumes, firm pricing, and momentum in the enhanced services portfolio, according to Wolfe Research analyst Darrin Peller.

Wells Fargo to Adopt Pismo

McInerney also said Wells Fargo plans to move to Visa’s Pismo cloud-based account ledger as part of a multi-year core banking modernization; Visa completed its acquisition of São Paulo-based Pismo, a provider of core banking and payment services on Amazon Web Services, in early 2024.

A Wells Fargo spokesperson declined to comment on the plan, and a Pismo representative said there were no details beyond McInerney’s remarks.