Reap and Visa are expanding their collaboration to support stablecoin-linked Visa credit card programs across more than 100 markets, extending Reap’s issuing infrastructure from Asia and Latin America into EMEA and Africa. The partnership combines stablecoin funding and settlement with Visa’s global merchant network, targeting corporate treasury, cross-border spending, payouts and embedded finance.
Stablecoins are increasingly being integrated into conventional payment infrastructure rather than treated as a separate cryptocurrency payment channel. The latest example comes from Reap and Visa, which are expanding their collaboration to enable stablecoin-linked Visa credit card programs across more than 100 markets, subject to local regulatory and partner requirements.
Reap said its infrastructure will provide card-network authorization, processing, compliance frameworks and operational support, allowing fintechs, businesses and platforms to launch stablecoin-enabled credit card programs without assembling the underlying payments stack independently. The expansion extends Reap’s existing Visa card-issuing infrastructure beyond Asia and Latin America into Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Africa.
The model connects two parts of the financial technology ecosystem that have historically operated separately. Stablecoins can provide blockchain-based liquidity and 24/7 settlement, while Visa provides established card acceptance at merchants around the world. Reap is positioning its infrastructure between those layers.
Partners will be able to use stablecoins as collateral or funding for card programs and, depending on the product structure and applicable regulations, allow cardholders to repay balances using stablecoins. The infrastructure is also intended for corporate treasury, vendor spending, global payouts and embedded finance applications.
The timing reflects rapid growth in crypto-linked card payments. Artemis Research estimates that crypto-card transaction volume increased from about $100 million per month in early 2023 to more than $1.5 billion per month by late 2025, representing a 106% compound annual growth rate. Its research puts annualized volume above $18 billion, compared with roughly $19 billion for peer-to-peer stablecoin transfers, which grew about 5% over the same period.
That data describes the broader crypto-card market rather than Reap’s own business, but it illustrates why payment infrastructure providers are building bridges between digital assets and established card networks. Cards avoid the need for merchants to implement native stablecoin acceptance: the merchant can continue using existing card-acquiring infrastructure while the stablecoin operates on the funding or settlement side.
Visa’s own network data points to a similar expansion. The company reported more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs globally in its fiscal second quarter of 2026, with payment volume on those programs growing nearly 200% year over year. Visa also said stablecoin settlement volume had surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate, more than 15 times the prior year.
For Reap, the new collaboration builds on its existing relationship with Visa’s stablecoin settlement program in Asia Pacific. Reap says it settles payment obligations with Visa directly using stablecoins, allowing settlement over blockchain infrastructure outside traditional banking hours and potentially reducing the need for large prefunded balances.
That settlement architecture is becoming an important part of the stablecoin payments infrastructure market. Visa has been expanding its own blockchain settlement capabilities, adding five blockchains to its settlement pilot in April 2026. At that point, Visa said its stablecoin settlement program had reached a $7 billion annualized run rate.
In September, Visa also introduced an on-chain lending model aimed at providing working capital to stablecoin-linked card programs. The company said more than $694 billion in stablecoin-denominated loans had moved through on-chain lending protocols since 2020, although much of that activity remains concentrated in crypto markets.
The developments point toward a more integrated digital payments infrastructure in which stablecoins can perform several functions across the transaction lifecycle: collateral, treasury liquidity, funding, settlement and potentially repayment.
Reap and Visa are also exploring a further layer: agentic commerce. The companies said they will investigate payment pathways in which trusted AI agents execute authenticated transactions within user-defined parameters. The proposal connects stablecoin infrastructure with the emerging field of programmable commerce, although the collaboration currently describes this as an area of exploration rather than a broadly deployed product.
The potential use cases extend beyond consumer cards. A B2B platform could embed a branded card into its existing software, use stablecoins to fund the program and give customers access to Visa’s merchant acceptance network. A multinational company could potentially use stablecoin liquidity alongside conventional banking channels for cross-border employee, vendor or corporate spending.
Reap is also planning multicurrency stablecoin card capabilities, which could allow programs to support additional currencies and stablecoin-based funding and settlement options. The company has previously described its broader infrastructure as an API-based embedded-finance platform for cards, payments and compliance.
The competitive landscape is expanding alongside this infrastructure. Visa has separately partnered with Bridge, a Stripe company, to expand stablecoin-linked Visa cards to more than 100 countries, while other infrastructure providers such as Rain are developing stablecoin-native card programs.
Reap’s positioning is therefore less about introducing another consumer payment card and more about providing the issuance and compliance infrastructure behind stablecoin-enabled financial products.
The regulatory dimension remains central. Reap says availability will operate in compliance with local regulations, and its expansion into EMEA and Africa means card programs will need to account for different licensing, stablecoin, consumer-protection and financial-crime requirements across jurisdictions.
The broader development suggests that stablecoins are becoming increasingly connected to established financial networks rather than replacing them outright. Visa supplies global acceptance and settlement infrastructure; Reap provides the program-management and issuing layer; and stablecoins provide another mechanism for moving and managing value.
For fintechs and B2B platforms, the practical question is consequently shifting from whether stablecoins can support payments to how they can be incorporated into regulated card, treasury and embedded-finance products without forcing businesses to build the underlying infrastructure themselves.
Market Landscape
Stablecoin-linked cards are developing at the intersection of digital assets, card issuing, embedded finance and global payments. Artemis estimates that crypto-card volume surpassed $18 billion on an annualized basis by late 2025, while Visa reported more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs on its network in 2026.
Visa has also expanded stablecoin settlement across multiple blockchain networks and is developing financing infrastructure for card programs. In April 2026, its settlement pilot supported nine blockchains and had reached a $7 billion annualized run rate.
The competitive field includes Visa, Mastercard, stablecoin issuers, crypto-card providers, fintech infrastructure companies and embedded-finance platforms. Recent Visa partnerships with Bridge and Reap illustrate a common infrastructure model: stablecoins operate behind the scenes while card networks preserve merchant acceptance and familiar payment experiences.
The next phase is likely to focus on settlement, liquidity, compliance and treasury infrastructure as much as card issuance itself.
Top Insights
- Reap and Visa will support stablecoin-linked Visa credit card programs across more than 100 markets, extending infrastructure into EMEA and Africa.
- Reap provides card authorization, processing, compliance and operational infrastructure for fintechs and businesses building stablecoin-enabled financial products.
- Artemis estimates crypto-card volume grew 106% annually from early 2023 through late 2025, reaching more than $18 billion annualized.
- Visa reports more than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs and a $20 billion annualized stablecoin settlement run rate.
- Reap and Visa are also exploring agentic commerce and multicurrency stablecoin card capabilities.
Get in touch with our fintech expert





