Visa, one of the world’s largest payment technology companies, has announced significant progress in its stablecoin and blockchain strategies while delivering strong financial results for the fiscal third quarter. The company outlined these developments during its Q3 earnings call, highlighting stablecoins as a core pillar in its long-term growth plan alongside artificial intelligence (AI).
Strong financial performance and key operational milestones
Visa reported net revenue of $11.6 billion for the quarter, reflecting a 14% year-over-year increase. Earnings per share reached $3.32, surpassing industry forecasts. Payment volumes crossed the $4 trillion mark for the first time in a single quarter, while processed transactions totaled 72 billion, both representing a 10% rise on an annual basis.
Cross-border payment volume also expanded by 13%. Despite incurring $563 million in severance expenses linked to workforce reductions, Visa raised its full-year guidance due to robust core business performance.
Visa executives emphasized that stablecoin-enabled payment systems and artificial intelligence now form major drivers for the company’s future growth, marking a significant evolution in their strategy.
Expanded stablecoin and blockchain strategy
Visa detailed a broadened stablecoin plan that extends well beyond settlement services. The firm is building out infrastructure across several layers of the digital asset payments ecosystem, including blockchain infrastructure, token creation, digital wallets, payment orchestration, and consumer-facing applications.
Previously, Visa’s blockchain efforts mainly focused on enabling settlements with stablecoins such as USDC. The current approach seeks to cover the end-to-end journey of stablecoin transactions, signaling the company’s push to establish itself as a leading provider of digital asset payment infrastructure.
As part of this initiative, the company spotlighted recent advancements involving OpenUSD (OUSD), a corporate-oriented stablecoin project involving over 140 partners. Earlier in July, Visa launched its Stablecoin Platform, allowing banks and financial institutions to settle payments using stablecoins, manage on-chain wallets, and transfer value between fiat currencies and digital assets.
The Visa Stablecoin Platform will initially support OpenUSD and integrate with Pismo, Visa’s cloud-native banking platform, allowing banks to offer tokenized deposit services and support for programmable payments.
Mini dictionary: Pismo is a technology company acquired by Visa, providing cloud-based banking and payment platforms to banks and fintechs worldwide.
Visa stated that its global infrastructure now serves approximately 15,000 financial institutions and more than 200 million merchants internationally.
AI integration and future outlook
The company also highlighted its rapid progress in artificial intelligence, revealing the development of over 150 AI-powered applications in the past year. To enhance innovation, Visa has restructured some internal teams into smaller “agentic squads” dedicated to accelerating technological advancements.
Executives noted that AI-powered commerce and programmable digital currencies will become increasingly interconnected, as consumers and merchants seek seamless, real-time payment solutions supported by advanced technology.
Visa stated that stablecoins and tokenized assets, coupled with artificial intelligence, are set to play a central role in its long-term plans for digital payments and global commerce. The company’s expanded stablecoin strategy aligns with ongoing industry trends that see digital assets and AI shaping the next phase of the financial ecosystem.
| Metric | Q3 2026 | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| Net revenue | $11.6 billion | +14% |
| Earnings per share | $3.32 | +11% |
| Payments volume | $4 trillion | +10% |
| Processed transactions | 72 billion | +10% |
| Cross-border volume | N/A | +13% |
