Lloyds and Visa settle $750,000 via stablecoins in under an hour
Lloyds Banking Group and Visa used stablecoins to settle $750,000 of payment obligations in a pilot that moved funds from Jersey to the United States in under an hour. The settlement demonstrated that stablecoin transfers can operate outside traditional banking hours and across different blockchain networks.
Lloyds executed the transactions using its own node on the Canton blockchain, while Visa settled on a separate public blockchain. The pilot ran for seven days, during which the full $750,000 was transferred and confirmed by Visa within sixty minutes, including weekend periods. Funds originated in Lloyds’ Corporate Markets branch in Jersey before being routed to Visa’s accounts in the United States. The exercise aimed to evaluate whether stablecoins can reduce the time and complexity of cross‑border payments for businesses operating globally.
“We’re seeing how digital money could help make international payments faster, more transparent and more flexible for businesses,” Peter Left, head of digital assets at Lloyds Banking Group said.
“This pilot with Lloyds shows how stablecoins can work alongside existing banking infrastructure to give financial institutions more choice over how and when they settle funds,” Rob Cameron, group country manager, UK & Ireland at Visa said.
What we know
During the pilot, through a series of real-world transactions, Lloyds used stablecoins to settle $750,000 of payment obligations with Visa, according to the release.
The settlement volume was booked through Lloyds’ Corporate Markets branch in Jersey and then transferred to Visa in the United States, the release said.
The funds reached Visa in under an hour, including over the weekend, per the release.
To test the potential for stablecoin transactions to operate across a variety of blockchain networks, Lloyds used its own node on Canton, while Visa supported settlement on a separate public blockchain, according to the release.
Canton Network said in a Wednesday post on X: “Cross-border settlement can take a day or more when initiated outside banking hours. In a 7-day pilot, [Lloyds] settled $750,000 in stablecoins using its own node on Canton, with funds reaching [Visa] in under an hour, including over the weekend.”