Visa has no fixed timetable for Philippine stablecoin transfers

Visa has not set a date for introducing stablecoin-based transfers in the Philippines. Qinwen Xiao, Visa Direct head for regional Southeast Asia, said adoption would depend on how ready Philippine financial institutions, regulators and consumers are to use the technology.

The company said it would keep discussing possible uses for stablecoins in cross-border transfers with Philippine banks, fintech companies and regulators. Stablecoins are digital assets whose value is designed to remain steady through a link to currencies such as the dollar.

Separately, Visa Philippines country manager Jeffrey Navarro said the company hoped to introduce another partner-led Visa Direct service in the country within six months. That service would use conventional currencies rather than stablecoins. Visa Direct supports international transfers to eligible accounts, cards and digital wallets through participating financial institutions.

Bank of the Philippine Islands, an existing Visa partner, previously announced plans to offer outbound international transfers through its mobile app by the first quarter of 2027.

Visa’s Money Travels 2026 survey found that 42 per cent of Filipino respondents had heard of stablecoins, but only about 20 per cent knew something about how they worked. Among respondents who had used international transfer services, only two per cent reported having made stablecoin transactions.

Trust in stablecoin remittances stood at 38 per cent, against 79 per cent for conventional digital transfers and 81 per cent for cash-based remittances. Morning Consult conducted the study for Visa, surveying more than 45,000 people in 20 markets, including 3,101 Filipino adults.

Overseas, Visa announced on October 15 that its stablecoin-enabled prefunding service had entered commercial deployment after pilot testing. Payments infrastructure provider Inyo Global was its first production partner.