Reap is described as the first fintech in Asia to partner with Visa at this scale, enabling stablecoin credit card issuing that stretches well beyond a single region. That distinction matters because it signals Visa is treating stablecoin-linked cards as a mainstream product line rather than a niche offering confined to crypto-native markets.
Expanding Beyond Asia and Latin America into EMEA and Africa
Until now, Reap’s Visa card issuing infrastructure was concentrated in Asia and Latin America. This collaboration pushes that footprint into EMEA and Africa, meaning businesses in those regions gain access to the same card-issuing rails that Reap has already built and tested elsewhere. Daren Guo, Co-Founder of Reap, framed the shift as a compliance breakthrough as much as a geographic one: “Stablecoins opened the door, but the real unlock is the compliant infrastructure pathway that this creates for any company, anywhere in the world, to issue cards and scale through a single partnership,” he said.
Guo also called the deal a landmark moment for the sector, adding: “We are excited that Visa is building the stablecoin card category with us in this landmark collaboration from Asia Pacific… We’re proud to collaborate with Visa as our leading go-to-market partner for stablecoin solutions, supporting our international expansion and sharing insights on bringing global card programs to market.”
Why Stablecoin-Linked Cards Are Outpacing Traditional Digital Payments
Stablecoin-linked card programs are growing far faster than other forms of digital payments, and that growth gap is a big part of why Visa is investing here. According to Artemis Research, the segment is expanding at a 106% compound annual growth rate, compared with just 5% for peer-to-peer payments — a gap wide enough to suggest demand for infrastructure that connects digital asset holdings to everyday merchant acceptance is accelerating rather than plateauing.
This matters for the wider payments industry because it shows stablecoins moving from a trading and settlement tool into something closer to a spending tool that ordinary businesses and consumers can actually use at checkout.
$20 Billion in Stablecoin Settlement, 175 Million Merchant Locations
Visa says it is now seeing a $20 billion annual run rate in global stablecoin settlement volume, a figure that has climbed 15 times year-over-year, alongside more than 160 stablecoin card programs operating globally. Stephen Karpin, President of Visa Asia Pacific, described the moment as an inflection point: “Stablecoin-linked card programs are entering a new stage and phase of scale and adoption. The collaboration with Reap reflects the strong momentum we are seeing across the payments ecosystem.”
On the practical side, cardholders funding spending with stablecoins can use those balances at more than 175 million Visa-accepting merchant locations worldwide. That scale is significant: it means stablecoin balances are no longer confined to crypto exchanges or niche wallets but can be spent almost anywhere a standard Visa card works.
How Reap’s Infrastructure Powers Stablecoin Spending
Reap’s infrastructure lets partners use stablecoins as collateral, lets cardholders repay balances directly in stablecoins, and supports cross-border corporate spending — all with compliance and program management built into the system rather than bolted on afterward.
From Corporate Treasury to Cross-Border Payouts
The expanded partnership supports several concrete use cases. Companies can fund credit cards using stablecoins to manage cross-border expenses more efficiently, platforms can support business payouts through a card experience powered by stablecoin settlement flows, and B2B platforms can embed branded card programs with stablecoin funding and repayment directly into their existing products.
Reap is also a partner in Visa’s stablecoin settlement program across the Asia Pacific region, where it settles payment obligations with Visa directly using stablecoins. That integration unlocks settlement over a blockchain outside traditional banking hours and weekend delays that have historically slowed global card operations, reducing how much liquidity issuers need to keep pre-funded — a shift Visa and Reap describe as foundational to how card networks manage liquidity at global scale.
Local-Currency Stablecoins and Round-the-Clock FX Settlement
Beyond dollar-based tokens, Reap is preparing to add a Mexican peso stablecoin to its card, cross-border payment and treasury products, according to CoinDesk. The company is also exploring stablecoins pegged to the Hong Kong dollar, the euro, the won and the yen to support round-the-clock foreign exchange and lower cross-border costs. Reap holds Visa Principal Issuer Member licenses in Hong Kong and Mexico, which makes the peso token a practical first addition to its lineup.
Guo told CoinDesk that moving money between currency corridors in emerging and cross-border markets can carry fees of 5% to 7%, and that stablecoin payments today remain overwhelmingly dollar-denominated — nearly 99% — even when the underlying business activity happens in local currencies. “Visa makes stablecoins settle. Reap makes them spendable,” Guo said, adding that the company’s recent acquisition by Payward, the parent company of Kraken, “opens up additional capabilities,” including possible access to yield, tokenized equities and trading.
Karpin, for his part, was careful to frame stablecoin settlement as complementary to existing banking infrastructure rather than a replacement for it. “We do not view this as a binary choice between blockchain networks and traditional banking infrastructure. We see them as being complementary,” he told CoinDesk. “The opportunity is to reduce friction where stablecoins can provide operational benefits, while maintaining interoperability with the broader financial system.”
What’s Next: AI Agents and Multicurrency Cards
Visa and Reap plan to explore new settlement and payment pathways as part of the expanded collaboration, including agentic commerce capabilities that would let trusted AI agents execute authenticated payments within user-defined parameters. The stated aim is to keep security and compliance intact while laying groundwork for programmable, stablecoin-native commerce — though the companies describe this as an area still being explored rather than a finished product.
Reap also intends to be among the first in the market to introduce multicurrency stablecoin card capability, which would let card programs support additional currencies alongside stablecoin-based funding and settlement options. Combined with the peso, Hong Kong dollar, euro, won and yen tokens under consideration, this points toward a broader push to make stablecoin credit cards useful for local spending, not just dollar-denominated transactions.
Reap’s own numbers give some sense of how quickly this business is scaling: card and payments volume rose 33% year-over-year in the first half of 2026, following a tripling of revenue and volume in 2025. Founded and headquartered in Hong Kong, Reap employs around 300 people worldwide and processed billions in stablecoin-funded transaction flows in 2025 alone.
Whether local-currency stablecoins and agentic payments become mainstream features of global commerce will depend heavily on how card networks, regulators and merchants adapt over the coming years — but for now, the Reap-Visa collaboration marks one of the clearest signals yet that stablecoin settlement is moving from the margins of crypto trading into the everyday plumbing of card payments.
FAQ
What is the new collaboration between Reap and Visa about?
They announced a strategic collaboration to launch stablecoin-linked Visa credit card programs in over 100 markets globally, using Reap’s card issuance infrastructure.
Where are the new stablecoin card programs being expanded to?
The partnership extends Reap’s Visa card issuing infrastructure beyond Asia and Latin America into EMEA and Africa.
How are stablecoin-linked card programs performing in terms of growth?
Stablecoin-linked card programs are growing at a 106% compound annual growth rate compared to 5% for peer-to-peer payments, according to Artemis Research.
What capabilities does Reap’s infrastructure provide for stablecoin credit cards?
Reap’s infrastructure enables stablecoins to be used as collateral, repayment currency, and for cross-border corporate spending, with global merchant acceptance.
Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.
