Visa’s WeFi driver enables decentralized stablecoins to fund everyday card payments across Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Summary
- Visa has partnered with DeFi-native platform WeFi to test stablecoin-based payments and “on-chain banking” services in select markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
- The partnership aims to create a self-sustaining stablecoin balance to be used anywhere Visa is accepted, with WeFi serving as an orchestration layer between DeFi and regulated payment instruments.
- The pilots build on Visa’s broader stablecoin program, which already spends an average of $7 billion a year across nine blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche and Stellar.
Visa and WeFi have begun working together to test on-chain banking and stablecoin-based payment scenarios in select markets, expanding the card network’s stablecoin system beyond postpaid into consumer-facing financial services. In a joint announcement published via Chainwire and subsequent broadcast, Visa said the program will focus on “how on-chain value can interact with common payment information within the existing regulatory framework,” using WeFi infrastructure to connect native DeFi assets to Visa’s global acceptance network.
Visa turns stablecoin trains into consumer banking infrastructure
WeFi describes its platform as an “orchestration layer” between decentralized currencies and a regulated payment infrastructure, built to support use cases such as cross-border transactions, on-chain value storage and daily card payments backed by stablecoins instead of bank deposits. Unlike most crypto card models that rely on full-store, exchange-held balances, WeFi says its “de‑banking” approach aims to allow users to store assets in a secure or hybrid setup while accessing regulated payment channels.
According to the founder of WeFi and CEO of the group Maksim Sakharov, the aim is to meet the need for money that “works seamlessly across borders, without unnecessary difficulties,” by using the capabilities of Visa as WeFi makes its banking services on-chain in key regions. A different commentator notes that the rollout will continue region by region, starting in selected countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and expansion depends on local regulatory approvals and rollout partnerships. At launch, the partnership will focus on regulated, fiat-backed stablecoins suitable for daily payments, with additional digital assets being considered only after the initial stage.
On Visa’s side, the WeFi partnership is designed as an outgrowth of their existing stablecoin operation. In an April update, Visa said it has added five new blockchains to its global stablecoin pilot, bringing full support to nine chains and pushing the program’s stablecoin payments to $7 billion annually, up nearly 50% quarter-on-quarter. Previous pilots have allowed selected issuers and acquirers to settle obligations with Visa directly from Circle’s USDC on networks like Solana, as well as fund cross-border business payments with stablecoins instead of pre-depositing money in foreign bank accounts.
The WeFi tie-up pushes that logic to the limit: Visa and its DeFi-native partners are experimenting not only with how banks live, but also how users hold, spend and move value on L2s and sidechains while card schemes manage UX, compliance and merchant relationships. If the model works, the long-term question shifts from whether banks will use stablecoins to how quickly card networks and fintechs can reintroduce on-chain banking, leaving traditional banks scrambling for KYC, licensing roles and balance in a world where the payment stack is increasingly owned by catholic media instead of legaware.
