Visa is adding Western Union’s dollar-backed USDPT token as a settlement asset for eligible participants on VisaNet through a collaboration with Anchorage Digital, according to a statement from the stablecoin issuer reported on November 12. The arrangement would allow selected partners to meet obligations to Visa using a token issued by Anchorage Digital Bank rather than relying exclusively on conventional bank-money settlement.
USDPT is the first Anchorage-issued stablecoin named in the arrangement. The companies have also set up a framework to assess other tokens issued by the federally chartered bank. Neither a timetable for wider availability nor the volume of Visa transactions expected to settle in USDPT was disclosed.
The development connects two businesses that already have separate ties to the token. Western Union launched USDPT on Solana in May for cross-border payments and treasury operations, while Anchorage Digital Bank handles issuance and redemption. Visa has been expanding blockchain settlement options for card issuers and acquirers. Adding another token changes the assets eligible participants may use to settle, not the currency merchants must accept at checkout.
VisaNet settlement is different from USDPT card spending
Under the newly described arrangement, eligible partners would be able to use USDPT to settle liabilities arising from activity on Visa’s network. This is a wholesale payment function between financial institutions and network particpants, rather than a way for every Visa cardholder to pay a merchant directly with USDPT.
Western Union already offers a different Visa-linked product. Its Stablecard, announced with Rain in August, combines a digital wallet holding USDPT with a Visa secured card. That product concerns how consumers hold and spend token-backed dollar balances. VisaNet settlement concerns how participating institutions discharge their obligations after payments have been authorised and processed. Both can use stablecoins without being the same transaction.
Visa has supported onchain settlement for several years, including work with Anchorage and USDC dating to 2021. Its network added further blockchain options in 2026, including Monad in November. USDPT would extend the list of potential settlement assets, whereas new blockchain support extends the networks over which those assets can move. It is a seperate commercial decision.
The distinction is also explored in DaveFinances’ comparison of Visa, Mastercard and Stripe’s stablecoin strategies, which separates token settlement from consumer card spending and the payment network’s underlying economics.
Western Union reports $20M of USDPT in circulation
Western Union provided a useful measure of the token’s existing scale during its November 4 third-quarter earnings call. Management said about $20 million of USDPT was circulating, with roughly $150 million to $200 million in transaction volume over a 30-day period. Two agents in Latin America were using the stablecoin for settlemnt, with additional agents being onboarded.
The transaction figure is not VisaNet volume, and a token can change hands repeatedly without requiring an equivalent increase in supply. Dividing the reported monthly activity by outstanding USDPT gives 7.5 to 10 times the token stock. That comparison illustrates turnover, but cannot establish how much economic activity is unique or how much future demand Visa might generate.
The new arrangement has no disclosed minimum usage commitment, pricing schedule or participant list. Anchorage has not said which Visa issuers or acquirers will first settle in USDPT, or whether any production settlement has already taken place. A partnership and an eligible settlement option should not be reported as proof of widespread adoption.
Western Union has pursued multiple distribution routes since the May launch, including exchange access through Bybit, agent settlement, Stablecard and work on sending remittances to token wallets. Those initiatives differ from VisaNet’s inter-institutional obligations. As DaveFinances explained in its analysis of stablecoin prefunding, supplying liquidity ahead of payouts and settling obligations between counterparties solve related but distinct operational problems.
Anchorage’s bank charter adds a regulated issuer layer
Anchorage Digital Bank is a U.S. national trust bank regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. It issues and redeems USDPT, which Western Union describes as redeemable one-for-one against dollars and backed by reserves of deposits, Treasury bills and similar cash equivalents. That backing supports the token’s design, but a federally regulated issuer is not the same as a U.S. government guarantee of token value or deposit insurance for holders.
The regulatory framework is also changing. In an October 21 final rule, the OCC specified reserve, redemption, audit, risk-management and custody requirements under the GENIUS Act, with an effective date of January 18, 2027. The rule provides a defined compliance backdrop for bank-linked stablecoin issuance, rather than proving that any particular VisaNet integration is operational.
Anchorage has also issued or supported dollar tokens for other businesses, including Tether’s USA₮. DaveFinances previously discussed the difference between Tether’s USDT reserve structure and its U.S.-focused Anchorage-issued token. The same issuer can service seperate brands, but each token retains its own supply, redemption arrangements and commercial distribution.
For Visa, the immediate change is more choice of settlement asset for qualifying partners. For Anchorage, it is an additional use case beyond minting and custody. Whether that creates material fee revenue, liquidity demand or settlement volume depends on how many institutions adopt USDPT and how often they use it. No figures for those outcomes accompanied the November 12 announcement.
Johan Shamshad is Editor-in-Chief at Dave Finances, covering financial markets, digital assets, trading platforms, brokers, fintech, payments and regulation. Since 2023, he has also worked as an editor at Gulf News, the UAE English-language newspaper published by Al Nisr Publishing LLC. His work focuses on market-moving developments, company disclosures, regulatory changes and trading infrastructure, with an emphasis on primary-source verification and practical context for traders and investors.