Lloyds Banking Group and Visa have completed a live pilot to test stablecoin-based settlement for cross-border transactions.
The project examined whether stablecoins could support “faster, more transparent and flexible cross-border transactions”, the British financial institution said in a statement.
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The seven-day pilot involved US dollar settlement obligations totalling $750,000. Lloyds used USDC purchased through Archax, a UK-regulated digital asset exchange, to complete the settlement obligations.
The settlement volume was booked through Lloyds’ Corporate Markets branch in Jersey and transferred to Visa in the US.
During the pilot, funds reached Visa in “under an hour, including during the weekend”, the statement said.
Traditional cross-border settlement takes a day or more if initiated outside banking hours, it added.
The pilot evaluated how round-the-clock settlement could affect treasury and liquidity management. The companies tested whether stablecoin settlement could provide clearer information on the status of funds and more predictable arrival times when transactions occur outside standard banking windows.
Additionally, the trial tested settlement across private and public blockchain environments. Lloyds used its own node on Canton, using the network’s configurable privacy capabilities. Visa supported settlement on a separate public blockchain. The approach demonstrated interoperability across both networks, Lloyds said.
Lloyds Banking Group Digital Assets head Peter Left said: “Stablecoins could be particularly valuable for cross-border payments, where moving money between markets, currencies and infrastructures can add time and complexity.
“Settling $750,000 of live payment obligations between Lloyds and Visa using stablecoins has allowed us to move beyond theory and test these capabilities in a real-world setting.
“We’re seeing how digital money could help make international payments faster, more transparent and more flexible for businesses.
“Greater visibility and certainty over the movement of funds can transform liquidity management, while interoperability between blockchain networks helps unlock future applications of digital money at scale.”
