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- Lloyds Banking Group and Visa completed a seven-day pilot using USDC to settle $750,000 in cross-border payment obligations.
- Individual transfers reached Visa in the United States in under an hour, including during the weekend.
- Neither Lloyds nor Visa has announced a commercial rollout for the stablecoin settlement model.
Lloyds Banking Group and Visa have completed a seven-day pilot using USDC to settle $750,000 in cross-border payment obligations, with individual transfers reaching Visa in the United States in under an hour, including during the weekend.
The live test focused on settlement between financial institutions rather than customer payments. Lloyds and Visa tested whether stablecoins could move funds outside normal banking hours while operating alongside existing payment infrastructure.
Lloyds Bought USDC Through UK-Regulated Archax
Lloyds purchased the USDC used in the pilot through Archax, a UK-regulated digital asset exchange.
The $750,000 in settlement obligations was booked through Lloyds’ Corporate Markets branch in Jersey before the stablecoins were transferred to Visa in the United States.
The pilot involved multiple real-world transactions over seven days. Visa said conventional cross-border settlement can take a day or longer when transfers begin outside banking hours, while the USDC transfers reached their destination in less than an hour.
Canton and Public Blockchain Supported Cross-Border Settlement
Lloyds operated its own node on the Canton Network during the pilot, using the network’s privacy controls. Visa handled its side of the settlement on a separate public blockchain, which the companies did not identify.
The setup tested whether institutions could move stablecoins between private and public blockchain environments without relying on a single network. Lloyds said the model could give banks greater certainty over settlement timing and reduce funds tied up while payments are pending.
Visa Extends Stablecoin Settlement Testing to Major UK Bank
Visa has been developing stablecoin settlement infrastructure since 2021, when Crypto.com began using USDC for some obligations to the card network. In December 2025, Visa expanded USDC settlement to U.S. financial institutions, with Cross River Bank and Lead Bank using Solana.
The Lloyds pilot extends that work to a major UK banking group and adds a cross-border test linking Jersey with the United States.
Neither Lloyds nor Visa has announced a commercial rollout. The next step is assessing whether the settlement model can be expanded to larger transaction volumes and broader institutional use.
