Visa Direct moves USDC prefunding into commercial production

Visa Direct has moved its USDC prefunding capability into commercial production, with Inyo Global named as its first commercial enabler for the service.

The move signifies a major scaling of Visa’s infrastructure for settling transactions with the Circle-issued stablecoin. Prefunding allows financial institutions to hold USDC in reserve to facilitate real-time settlement for Visa Direct transactions, which is the network’s platform for pushing funds to cards and bank accounts.

Inyo Global, a digital asset infrastructure firm, will act as the initial commercial partner enabling this service for other financial institutions. This commercial launch follows a pilot program announced earlier this year, indicating that the technology has progressed from testing to live implementation.

The integration is part of a broader trend of traditional payment giants building on-chain capabilities, aiming to leverage stablecoins for faster and more efficient cross-border and domestic settlement.