Citingcross-border settlement and compliance needs, the firm discloses its market ambitions for the proposed expansion
A card issuer that lets businesses use stablecoins to support credit-card spending is seeking to extend its programs beyond Asia and Latin America. The firm, Reap, already issues cards through arrangements in Hong Kong and Mexico, and it settles payment obligations to Visa in stablecoins in the Asia Pacific region.
On 23 September 2026, the firms announced plans to bring stablecoin-linked credit-card programs to more than 100 markets, subject to local requirements.
For a card issuer, expanding across jurisdictions involves more than making a card usable abroad. Programs need authorization, transaction processing, compliance processes and ongoing operations. Reap says conventional banking hours can delay settlement and require issuers to hold funds in advance. Addressing these aspects of business friction, the approach described in the announcement combines:
- Card authorization, processing and program operations for businesses offering their own card programs
- Stablecoins used as possible credit collateral or to repay card balances, depending on the program
- Direct stablecoin settlement of Reap’s Asia Pacific obligations to the card network, allowing that settlement step to take place outside banking hours
- Compliance processes that must account for local rules as programs enter additional markets
- Explorations of agentic commerce and multi-currency capabilities as routine business development
For a card issuer, expanding across jurisdictions involves more than making a card usable abroad. Programs need authorization, transaction processing, compliance processes and ongoing operations. Reap says conventional banking hours can delay settlement and require issuers to hold funds in advance. Addressing these aspects of business friction, the approach described in the announcement combines:
Note the different parts of the payment chain involved. A business may fund or repay a card using stablecoins without the merchant receiving them. Nor does network acceptance establish that a locally issued card program is available in every market where the card can be used.
Reap co-founder Daren Guo noted that the firm wants stablecoins to be “as usable and accessible for businesses as any other payment method.” His statement describes an objective, rather than a measured result of the announced expansion.
Stephen Karpin, President, Visa Asia-Pacific, the card-network provider in the arrangement, said the collaboration is intended to bring payment infrastructure “to more markets and use cases.”
Neither firm has disclosed a rollout timetable or results for the proposed new markets.
