Lloyds Banking Group and Visa settled $750,000 in cross-border obligations using USDC during a seven-day live pilot, with funds reaching Visa in under an hour. The trial also tested settlement across both private and public blockchains, marking the first stablecoin settlement test between Visa and a major UK bank.
Lloyds and Visa complete first live settlement test
Lloyds and Visa completed a seven-day live pilot using stablecoins to settle $750,000 of payment obligations, the first such trial between Visa and a major UK banking group. Lloyds purchased USDC through UK-regulated exchange Archax, booking the volume through its Corporate Markets branch in Jersey before transferring it to Visa in the US.
The funds reached Visa in under an hour, including over the weekend. Lloyds said traditional cross-border settlement can take a day or more when initiated outside banking hours. According to The Block, Lloyds Head of Digital Assets Peter Left said the pilot "has allowed us to move beyond theory and test these capabilities in a real-world setting".
Testing settlement across blockchains
Lloyds ran its own node on the Canton Network during the trial, while Visa supported settlement on a separate, unnamed public blockchain. Crypto Briefing reported the test demonstrated interoperability between the private and public networks and highlighted the potential importance of connecting different blockchain ecosystems as digital asset activity expands across multiple chains. Visa's UK and Ireland Group Country Manager Rob Cameron said the pilot showed how stablecoins could operate alongside existing banking infrastructure and give institutions more settlement options.
Visa's stablecoin settlement volume surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate last month. In April, Visa added Canton and four other blockchains to its settlement pilot, bringing the total to nine. Lloyds was also among six major UK banks that began a live pilot of tokenized sterling deposits last year.
Sources: The Block, Crypto Briefing
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