Navy Federal, Vystar sign up for Visa's stablecoin consulting

• Key insights: Visa has launched its Stablecoin Advisory Practice, a service from its consultancy arm Visa Consulting & Analytics, to help financial institutions deploy stablecoin technology. 
• What's at stake: Banks and financial institutions are seeking out the best stablecoin use case, and Visa is looking to protect the competitive moat around its network. 
• Forward look: Navy Federal Credit Union, Vystar Credit Union and Pathward are the first financial institutions to use the service. 

Visa is injecting itself further into the burgeoning stablecoin economy with a new advisory service designed to help financial institutions, fintechs and merchants deploy the digital asset. 

The card giant on Monday launched its Stablecoin Advisory Practice, a service provided by its consultancy arm, Visa Consulting & Analytics. The practice includes stablecoin training and market trend programs, use case sizing and go-to-market planning, strategy development and market entry planning, and technology enablement for stablecoin integration, according to Visa. 

"Having a comprehensive stablecoins strategy is critical in today's digital landscape," said Carl Rutstein, global head of Visa Consulting & Analytics. 

Navy Federal Credit Union, Vystar Credit Union and Pathward are the first financial institutions to sign up for the service. 

"Stablecoins may represent an opportunity to enhance speed and lower cost in payments, so with the support of Visa, we are evaluating how this technology could fit into our broader strategy to deliver meaningful value to our 15 million members worldwide," said Matt Freeman, senior vice president, Navy Federal Credit Union, in a statement. 

The announcement comes as banks seek out their preferred use cases for stablecoin deployment and evaluate the best path forward. Early Warning Services, the bank-owned parent company of Zelle and Paze, said in October that it was planning on bringing stablecoins to Zelle as it expands the peer-to-peer network to international markets. 

U.S. Bank was named custodian of Anchorage Digital Bank's stablecoin platform in October and last month said it was testing stablecoin issuance on the Stellar Network. And Minnesota-based St. Cloud Financial Credit Union is issuing its own white-label stablecoin by the end of the year to help retain member deposits. 

For Visa, the advisory council allows the network to keep its finger on the pulse of stablecoin development and gain insight into its customers, Richard Crone, CEO of Crone Consulting LLC, told American Banker. 

"The space is unfolding so fast that they are circling the wagons and trying to understand how they protect their network moat, their competitive advantage," Crone said. 

Visa has been developing new use cases for stablecoins over the last couple of months on Visa Direct, its real-time payments platform, including a stablecoin prefunding pilot for accounts-based transfers, and a pilot for stablecoin payouts to creators and gig workers. 

But stablecoins, especially merchant issued stablecoins, and agentic commerce threaten to disintermediate Visa's hold on the global payment system, Crone said, making it more important for the network to insert itself into budding economies. 

"Visa's stablecoin consulting practice is an intelligence gathering move offering 'advisory venture capital' to ensure their POV shapes how stablecoins and agentic payments evolve in their favor," Crone said. "That is why Visa is circling the wagons, not to lead stablecoins, but to ensure it is never excluded from the next payment object that could bypass the network entirely."