Visa announced the development of infrastructure for tokenized deposits that would allow banks to issue programmable digital assets backed by traditional deposits. The move became part of the company’s broader strategy to expand settlement using blockchain technologies and stablecoins.
Visa plans to build a technology layer that would let financial institutions turn bank deposits into tokenized assets with 24/7 programmable use. The initiative would give banks a way to offer customers the speed and flexibility typically associated with stablecoins without moving funds off the balance sheet.
The new platform was aimed at modernizing interbank settlement and capital movement infrastructure without requiring a full shift to stablecoin-only models. According to Jack Forestell, Chief Product & Strategy Officer at Visa, tokenized deposits could become a bridge between the traditional banking system and the blockchain economy, making existing financial processes compatible with programmable payments.
The company also presented results from initiatives already operating in digital assets and blockchain-based settlement. In particular:
- According to Visa, the annual volume of stablecoin settlement through VisaNet reached about $7 billion as of March 2026.
- Issuing banks already used stablecoins for settlement through Visa seven days a week, and the company was working to bring acquirers into the model as well.
- Visa launched or was developing more than 160 card programs linked to stablecoins.
- The company expanded the list of available blockchain networks, currencies, and regions within its stablecoin settlement pilots.
Alongside initiatives in programmable money, the company also introduced a series of AI-based solutions, including:
- Visa Intelligent Commerce, a platform for payments involving AI agents;
- Agent Score, a system that lets merchants assess whether their websites are ready to interact with AI agents;
- Agentic Directory, a registry for verifying and identifying trusted AI agents and merchants;
- Large Transaction Model, a new fraud detection model trained on billions of transactions;
- a strategic partnership with OpenAI aimed at integrating Visa’s payment infrastructure into agentic AI services.
The company said its key priority remained modernizing payment infrastructure without the need to fully replace existing banking systems. To do that, Visa was developing cloud-based, modular solutions that could integrate with the existing infrastructure of banks, FinTech companies, acquirers, and merchants.
In December 2025, Visa introduced a new consulting division, Visa Consulting & Analytics, which provided a broad range of consulting services in stablecoins.
