Lloyds and Visa Complete $750,000 USDC Settlement Pilot

Lloyds Banking Group and Visa have finished a live pilot that settled $750,000 in US dollar payment obligations using the USDC stablecoin. The seven-day trial, which ended on September 30, 2026, focused on testing cross-border settlement during weekends and times when traditional banking rails are typically inactive.

During the test, funds reached Visa in under one hour. The obligations were processed through the Corporate Markets branch of Lloyds in Jersey, with the bank utilizing USDC to settle its debts to Visa rather than relying on conventional dollar transfers.

To maintain compliance, Lloyds sourced the USDC through Archax, a digital asset exchange regulated in the UK. This approach allowed the transaction flow to remain within a framework acceptable to bank compliance teams.

The pilot also explored interoperability by settling transactions across the Canton blockchain network alongside other platforms. Peter Left, the Head of Digital Assets at Lloyds, noted that the trial provided corporate clients with improved liquidity visibility and increased operational flexibility.

This initiative represents the first stablecoin settlement effort between Visa and a major UK banking group. While Visa has been running USDC settlement programs in the US since 2025, this pilot expands that model to include a cross-border component.

The ability to settle payments on weekends highlights a key advantage of blockchain technology over traditional banking systems, which often queue transactions initiated outside of standard business hours. For corporate treasurers, the move toward stablecoin settlement could eventually allow for tighter liquidity management and smaller buffers against delays.

While the pilot demonstrates a potential shift in treasury operations, the $750,000 figure remains small compared to the daily volumes handled by correspondent banking. The success of the project relied on the use of regulated intermediaries like Archax, which will likely serve as a template for other banks exploring similar digital asset integrations.