Payment networks and fintech firms are competing for control of stablecoin banking services beyond transaction settlement, as the stablecoin supply tracked by Artemis reached $315.6 billion in July 2026 with daily transfers averaging $195.6 billion. Visa, Mastercard and Stripe are strengthening settlement infrastructure, while specialist firms such as Wirex are building customer-facing products including accounts, cards and financial services around stablecoin flows. The competition centers on who controls the account, the card, currency conversion, the customer relationship and risk allocation when transactions fail. Commercial use across payments, payroll and cross-border settlement is driving providers to build full financial products around stablecoin transfers, creating a contest over product control rather than transaction speed alone.
Visa and Mastercard Expand Stablecoin Settlement Infrastructure
Visa's stablecoin settlement run rate rose from $3.5 billion annualized in November 2025 to about $7 billion by March 2026. The company has since expanded a pilot that lets eligible issuers and acquirers settle obligations using stablecoins on supported blockchains, according to its announcement.
Mastercard added support for several stablecoins across multiple networks in June. Earlier in 2026, it agreed to acquire BVNK for up to $1.8 billion.
Stripe has also integrated stablecoin acceptance and fiat settlement. Its acquisition of Bridge added technology for issuing, transferring and converting digital dollars.
Their entry gives stablecoins access to established payment networks. It also sharpens the question of who owns the customer-facing layer.
"There are plenty more parts of the system which allow the stablecoin industry to operate, and it's impossible for Visa and Mastercard to own them all. Even in the traditional financial system, they've never chosen to become card issuers," Wirex Group CEO and Co-Founder Pavel Matveev told BeInCrypto.
Payment networks connect institutions and merchants. Issuers and fintech platforms control the accounts, cards and interfaces customers use each day.
Wirex is pursuing that layer through its banking-as-a-service business, which supplies stablecoin-linked products to exchanges, wallets and other fintech firms.
Wirex BaaS Reaches $1 Billion Annualized Settlement Volume
Settlement moves money between participants after a transaction has been authorized. The surrounding services create more ways to earn through card interchange, foreign exchange, program fees and financial products linked to customer balances.
"This is a huge part of the end-to-end financial transaction, and owning a large chunk gives these businesses more ways to deepen the relationship with customers across multiple touchpoints and earn revenue," Matveev said.
Wirex says its BaaS operation reached $1 billion in annualized settlement volume within 131 days of launching in November 2025. The rate was calculated from activity across Base and Stellar during that period.
Matveev also said the company has more than 300 active partner discussions, with BingX, EVEDEX and Crossmint already integrated.
The numbers suggest early demand. The stronger test will be how many partners go live, how frequently their customers transact and whether those flows produce durable revenue.
Wirex One App Plans Credit and Trading Products
The same model that gives providers greater commercial control also concentrates responsibility.
A stablecoin payment may involve an issuer, a blockchain network, a wallet, a card program and a liquidity provider. The customer usually sees one app and expects that company to fix the problem.
"The responsibility ends where our control ends. In some cases, such as when a stablecoin loses its peg, the stablecoin issuer bears responsibility," Matveev said.
That boundary becomes harder to explain as stablecoin neobanks add credit, trading and investment products.
Wirex One, an upcoming onchain app, plans to combine card spending and foreign exchange with tokenized equities, asset-backed credit and perpetual futures offering leverage of up to five times.
Its Earn product advertises variable returns of up to 9.75% through DeFi markets including Morpho and Aave. Matveev said the return comes from lending demand rather than token incentives.
"Customers take on the underlying risks, including market volatility and smart contract risk, and rates are variable, moving with market conditions."
Those products carry a different risk profile from a payment balance. Smart-contract failures, liquidity shortages, oracle errors and stablecoin depegging can affect returns or access to funds.
Providers will need clear separation between money used for spending, assets supplied to lending markets and leveraged trading positions. Customers also need to know which company controls each product and who carries the loss when it fails.
Wirex Joins Visa Program for Agent-Initiated Transactions
Stablecoins are also moving into automated payments.
Wirex recently joined Visa's program for agent-initiated transactions and plans to launch an Agent Card using tokenized credentials.
Users would set spending caps, merchant restrictions and time limits. Software would then check each transaction against those rules.
This creates another layer of responsibility. Providers must prove what the user authorized, how the agent applied those instructions and who pays when an automated transaction exceeds them.
The stablecoin banking race is becoming a contest over product control rather than transaction speed alone. Visa, Mastercard and Stripe are building the rails. Fintech firms and crypto providers are trying to own the account, the interface and the wider financial relationship.
Their long-term position will depend on whether they can combine payments, yield and automation while keeping the risks visible and the lines of responsibility clear.
FAQ
What did Visa and Mastercard do in the stablecoin settlement market in 2026?
Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement pilot, growing its run rate from $3.5 billion annualized in November 2025 to about $7 billion by March 2026. Mastercard added support for several stablecoins across multiple networks in June and agreed to acquire BVNK for up to $1.8 billion earlier in 2026. Both companies are strengthening the infrastructure that lets eligible issuers and acquirers settle obligations using stablecoins on supported blockchains.
How does Wirex's banking-as-a-service model differ from payment network settlement?
Wirex's BaaS operation supplies stablecoin-linked products including accounts, cards and interfaces directly to exchanges, wallets and fintech firms, controlling the customer-facing layer. Payment networks like Visa and Mastercard focus on settlement infrastructure that moves money between institutions after transactions are authorized. Wirex reached $1 billion in annualized settlement volume within 131 days of launching in November 2025, calculated from activity across Base and Stellar.
What products does Wirex One plan to offer and what are the risks?
Wirex One, an upcoming onchain app, plans to combine card spending and foreign exchange with tokenized equities, asset-backed credit and perpetual futures offering leverage of up to five times. Its Earn product advertises variable returns of up to 9.75% through DeFi markets including Morpho and Aave. Customers take on underlying risks including market volatility and smart contract risk, and rates are variable, moving with market conditions, according to Wirex CEO Pavel Matveev.
