Visa takes USDC prefunding live as Circle eyes new markets

Visa has moved stablecoin prefunding for its Visa Direct payouts network out of the pilot stage and into commercial production, with payments processor Inyo Global as the first company to offer it, Visa said in an announcement dated October 15. A day later, Circle — the issuer of the USDC used in the service — laid out plans to enter dozens of new markets.

What Visa launched

• Businesses that run cross-border payouts through Visa Direct via Inyo Global can now prefund those payouts with USDC in near real time, instead of relying only on traditional bank funding windows.
• The option runs through Inyo's existing APIs and is available to eligible clients, subject to eligibility and geographic restrictions.
• Inyo serves money transmitters, fintechs, banks and payment businesses. Visa first introduced stablecoin prefunding and payout pilots in 2025.

"Prefunding" is the cash a payout provider must park with a network before it can send money on to recipients. Being able to top that balance up with a stablecoin at any hour, rather than waiting for banks to open, is the practical gain. Inyo co-founder Robson Dantas said the feature gives its clients a funding option that "is available around the clock".

Circle's expansion push

Separately, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire told Reuters on Friday that the company plans to expand into about 50 emerging and developing markets across Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, CoinDesk reported (its headline cites 40 new markets). Allaire described the industry as moving from early adoption into a mainstream scaling phase.

• USDC has about $72.6 billion in circulation, roughly a quarter of the stablecoin market, against nearly 60% for Tether's USDT, per CoinDesk data.
• Circle has agreed to buy Singapore payments firm Tazapay for $400 million, launched its own payments blockchain, Arc, and won US federal trust bank approval in July.
• Allaire credited clearer rules such as the US GENIUS Act and pointed to growing USDC use by AI agents making small automated payments.

Why it matters

Card networks are now competing to make stablecoins part of everyday settlement: Mastercard recently launched a global money platform built on BVNK. For background on how dollar-pegged tokens work, see what is a stablecoin, and for USDC's status in Europe, read about the EBA naming it a significant e-money token.