Lloyds Banking Group and Visa (V) have completed a live pilot testing stablecoin-based settlement for cross-border transactions, marking a significant step for both institutions.
The seven-day pilot involved US dollar settlement obligations totalling $750,000, providing a real-world test of digital asset infrastructure at scale.
Lloyds used USDC purchased through Archax, a UK-regulated digital asset exchange, to complete the settlement obligations during the trial period.
The settlement volume was booked through Lloyds’ Corporate Markets branch in Jersey and transferred to Visa in the United States.
During the pilot, funds reached Visa in “under an hour, including during the weekend,” a marked improvement over traditional cross-border settlement timelines.
Traditional cross-border settlement typically takes a day or more when initiated outside standard banking hours, creating liquidity challenges for financial institutions managing international obligations.
The trial tested whether stablecoin settlement could provide clearer visibility on fund status and more predictable arrival times when transactions occur outside standard banking windows.
The pilot also ran transactions across both private and public blockchain environments, with Lloyds using its own node on Canton and Visa supporting settlement on a separate public blockchain.
Peter Left, head of digital assets at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “We’re seeing how digital money could help make international payments faster, more transparent and more flexible for businesses.”
Left added that “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.”
Rob Cameron, group country manager for UK & Ireland at Visa, said: “This pilot with Lloyds shows how stablecoins can work alongside existing banking infrastructure to give financial institutions more choice over how and when they settle funds.”
This was the first stablecoin settlement trial between Visa and a major UK banking group, testing how institutions could move money across borders with greater speed and flexibility.
Visa had previously tested private stablecoin settlement with Brale using the SBC dollar-backed stablecoin on Canton Network, signalling sustained institutional commitment to this technology.
The collaboration reflects a broader shift among major financial institutions toward using stablecoins and tokenized money for practical payment and settlement applications across global markets.
