Visa and Lloyds Banking Group have completed a seven-day live pilot to see whether stablecoins can speed up and improve the flexibility of cross-border settlement. The test used real-world US dollar obligations totalling $750,000.

Lloyds bought USDC through the UK-regulated digital asset exchange Archax, then transferred the money from its Jersey branch to Visa in the US. Additionally, the test integrated institutional and public infrastructure into one settlement process by connecting several blockchain settings.

Lloyds Uses USDC for Real World Settlement

In contrast to consumer payments, the pilot exclusively concentrated on settlement. Lloyds and Visa tested how stablecoins could enhance current financial settlement procedures using real US $ obligations.

USDC was purchased by Lloyds through the UK-regulated digital asset exchange Archax. Before the USDC was converted to Visa in the US, the transactions were scheduled through the Jersey branch of Lloyds Corporate Markets. The liabilities totalled $750,000 during the seven-day pilot.

Since the money was not being transferred as a demonstration, the practical test is important. The institutions were evaluating how a settlement method improved speed, visibility, and operational management by comparing it to actual responsibilities.

Settlement Reaches Visa in Under an Hour

The amount of time needed to transfer the money was one of the most noticeable outcomes. Even for transactions completed over the weekend, Visa received the settlement cash in less than an hour. When transactions are started outside of regular working hours, a traditional cross-border settlement may take a day or more.

The pilot has a direct treasury implication as a result of that disparity. Conventional settlement procedures can still be linked to banking schedules, although foreign businesses do not always cease their financial operations when banks close.

The pilot showed how money could flow outside of the conventional windows using stablecoin-based settlement. This could decrease the amount of liquidity waiting in transit while settlement is pending, especially on weekends and holidays, and provide financial institutions with better insight into when money has arrived.

Lloyds & Visa Test Different Blockchain Networks

Additionally, the pilot did more than just move USDC. Using Canton's configurable privacy features for its part of the settlement process, Lloyds ran its own node on the Canton Network. On a different public blockchain, Visa, however, facilitated the transaction.

Instead of requiring both institutions to operate on the same network, this design allowed the companies to evaluate whether settlement could function across other blockchain ecosystems.

While Visa's use of a public blockchain introduced a different kind of infrastructure into the test, Canton offered Lloyds an environment built around the needs of institutional transactions. Because banks and payment networks may not always employ the same technology, the experiment's capacity to connect these contexts is crucial.

A Practical Test for Round the Clock Banking

The pilot provides Lloyds and Visa with a practical example of how stablecoins could be integrated into current settlement processes without requiring the replacement of current systems. The goal was to test speed, transparency, and operational flexibility while using blockchain-based settlement along with conventional procedures.

Timing was the main challenge that the two companies examined for global operations. Treasury teams have greater assurance about when cash will be available and when commitments have been fulfilled when a settlement can proceed on weekends and beyond banking hours.

As a result, the trial integrates three different parts into a single transaction procedure. While Visa used a public blockchain, Lloyds sourced USDC through Archax, transferred it from Jersey to Visa in the US, and used Canton. According to the seven-day test, these many components might be utilised to satisfy real dollar obligations with funds reaching Visa in less than an hour.

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