TLDR:
- Lloyds used USDC bought through Archax to settle $750,000 in obligations with Visa over seven days.
- Funds reached Visa in under an hour, including over the weekend, versus a day or more traditionally.
- Lloyds used its own Canton node while Visa supported settlement on a separate public blockchain.
- The pilot was booked through Lloyds’ Corporate Markets branch in Jersey and sent to Visa in the US.
Lloyds stablecoin settlement testing with Visa has reached a first milestone. Lloyds Banking Group completed a seven-day live pilot using USDC to settle $750,000 in payment obligations.
The bank bought the stablecoin through Archax, a UK-regulated digital asset exchange. Funds reached Visa in under an hour, including over the weekend.
Lloyds is among the largest retail banking groups in the United Kingdom. The trial focused on settlement rather than the way payments are made.
How the Lloyds and Visa Pilot Worked
The Lloyds stablecoin settlement pilot marks the first such trial between Visa and a major UK banking group. The pilot ran for seven days and covered a series of US dollar settlement obligations.
Each transaction was a real-world payment obligation between the two firms. Lloyds booked the settlement volume through its Corporate Markets branch in Jersey. The funds were then transferred to Visa in the United States.
According to the announcement, the pilot tested stablecoins alongside existing settlement processes. The trial examined how institutions could move money across borders with greater speed and visibility.
Lloyds and Visa assessed the effect on speed, transparency, and operations. Settlement is the behind-the-scenes process where institutions exchange funds to reconcile payment activity.
Under traditional cross-border processes, settlement can take a day or more. This usually happens when a transaction starts outside banking hours. By contrast, funds reached Visa in under an hour, even on the weekend.
Peter Left, Head of Digital Assets at Lloyds Banking Group, said the test moved the work beyond theory. He added that live obligations allowed the teams to test these capabilities in a real-world setting.
Cross-Chain Setup and Round-the-Clock Settlement
The pilot also tested settlement across private and public blockchain environments. Lloyds used its own node on Canton, which offers configurable privacy capabilities.
Visa supported settlement on a separate public blockchain. As a result, Lloyds stablecoin settlement ran across two different network types.
The setup demonstrated interoperability between the two networks. Lloyds and Visa said this matters as liquidity and activity span multiple chains. Interoperability lets institutions reach different networks while keeping flexibility and choice.
Additionally, round-the-clock settlement may help with liquidity management. Less liquidity may stay tied up while settlement completes, especially over weekends and holidays.
Stablecoins could also give institutions better visibility over the status of funds. They could offer greater certainty over when money has arrived. Moving money between markets, currencies, and infrastructures adds time and complexity to cross-border payments.
Rob Cameron, Group Country Manager for UK and Ireland at Visa, said stablecoins can work alongside existing banking infrastructure.
He added that Visa aims to make these forms of money practical, interoperable, and trusted at scale. The Lloyds stablecoin settlement pilot forms part of the bank’s wider work on digital assets and tokenised money.
