NymCard and Visa Launch Stablecoin Settlement in GCC Region

Payments infrastructure company NymCard can now settle card transactions with Visa using USDC stablecoins in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

The capability results from NymCard taking stablecoin settlement with Visa live in the region, the companies said in a Monday (Feb. 2) press release.

The model supports faster, 24/7 settlement and enables issuers to lower operational costs, reduce collateral and prefunding requirements, and create a foundation for simpler multicurrency settlement, according to the release.

NymCard provides the technology behind card issuing, payment processing and money movement for financial institutions, FinTechs and enterprises in the Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region, per the release.

“We are proud to be the first issuer in the GCC to enable a modern settlement capability with Visa,” NymCard CEO Omar Onsi said in the release. “This milestone reflects NymCard’s focus on building the payments infrastructure of tomorrow.”

Godfrey Sullivan, head of product and solutions for CEMEA at Visa, said in the release that the collaboration will bring next-generation settlement solutions to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

“Stablecoins are redefining how value moves globally, and this milestone demonstrates Visa’s commitment to empowering financial institutions with speed, transparency and cost efficiency, without compromising on compliance or reliability,” Sullivan said in the release.

PYMNTS reported last month that Visa is among the companies pushing stablecoins into the financial mainstream by embedding the tokens invisibly into payments, settlement and cards.

Visa CEO Ryan McInerney said during a Thursday (Jan. 29) earnings call that the company continued to test stablecoin use cases during the first quarter of fiscal 2026, reporting an annualized settlement run rate of $4.6 billion. McInerney positioned stablecoins primarily as a tool for cross-border payments, disbursements and markets with currency volatility, rather than everyday consumer spending in developed economies.

Meanwhile, NymCard raised $33 million in a Series B round in March to deepen the presence of its embedded finance platform in more than 10 MENA markets and boost its payment infrastructure solutions to better serve clients. At the time, NymCard had worked with more than 50 banks, FinTechs and enterprises on personal finance offerings throughout the region.