Cross River Teams with Highnote to Pilot Visa Stablecoin Settlements—A Game-Changer for Digital Finance

Forget waiting days for wires to clear—the future of payments just got a major upgrade. Cross River Bank is partnering with card-issuing platform Highnote to pilot Visa's stablecoin settlement system, a move that could slash settlement times from days to minutes.

Why This Matters

This isn't just a tech demo. It's a direct shot across the bow of the legacy financial system's sluggish settlement rails. By using stablecoins—digital tokens pegged to the US dollar—on Visa's network, the pilot aims to prove that real-time, 24/7 settlements aren't just possible but practical for card transactions. Think of it as cutting out the middleman's waiting room.

The Mechanics Behind the Move

Highnote will issue cards, Cross River will handle the banking and settlement layer, and Visa's blockchain tech will move the value. The goal? To demonstrate a seamless flow where consumer spending translates into near-instant settlement for merchants and issuers, bypassing the traditional ACH or wire delays that everyone in business loves to hate.

A Provocative Step Forward

This pilot signals a quiet but significant shift: major financial players aren't just dabbling in crypto—they're building the plumbing for it to become mainstream. It turns the theoretical promise of blockchain efficiency into a tangible test for a household name in payments. Of course, watching traditional finance finally try to run at internet speed does make you wonder what took them so long—were they waiting for the fax machine confirmations to come through?

The bottom line: If successful, this collaboration could push the entire payments industry toward a faster, cheaper, and frankly, more logical standard. The race to modernize money movement is on, and the old guard is finally starting to sprint.

Bridging regulatory compliance and decentralized finance

Luca Cosentino, Head of crypto at Cross River, commented on the function, stating, “For stablecoins to realize their full potential they must operate within unified systems. Cross River’s infrastructure is built to bring onchain settlement safely into mainstream financial services.”

“Our participation in the Visa stablecoin settlement pilot and collaboration with Highnote will enable card issuers to settle network activity seven days a week, demonstrating how this innovation can be implemented effectively in real-world environments,” he added. 

The launch of the Cross River and Highnote settlement capability is the practical culmination of a rapidly maturing digital asset ecosystem. This development builds upon Cross River’s November rollout of a compliant stablecoin payment suite.

It established the necessary regulatory and technical infrastructure to bridge fiat and on-chain finance. The integration of this technology into real-world card programs is further validated by Visa’s December launch of its Global Stablecoins Advisory Practice. 

Together, these developments indicate a shift from experimental pilots to institutional-grade operations, where major payment networks and infrastructure banks are now guiding financial institutions on how to replace legacy multi-day clearing cycles with 24/7 blockchain-based settlement.

Evolving from crypto-native to mainstream banking

The initiative comes after several years of step-by-step integration between decentralized finance (DeFi) and the traditional banking industry. Cross River has managed to emerge as one of the key infrastructure partners for most of the major fintech companies across the globe. Meanwhile, Highnote has concentrated its efforts on designing highly customizable payment programs.

The use of stablecoins for making payments was previously limited to companies that operated within the crypto space. With the enhancement of regulations and an increasing demand for instant liquidity within the traditional financial service provider industry, there is an increasing quest to adopt blockchain solutions into their normal offerings.

Through the use of stablecoins that simplify the process of settlement, these two firms are exemplifying solutions that have long been sought after by the financial industry for inefficiencies inherent within the financial system.

Also Read: Tether Invests $8M in Speed for Lightning-Native Stablecoin Tech