Visa has announced a partnership with WeFi, a blockchain-based stablecoin infrastructure company, to establish a comprehensive on-chain payment and banking system. WeFi, co-founded by Reeve Collins, a former Tether executive, provides an interoperability layer between decentralized finance and traditional payment systems, enabling use cases such as cross-border transactions and on-chain value storage. According to Collins, the platform will offer users virtual bank accounts, complete with IBAN numbers, and will obtain necessary licenses to operate globally.
The partnership plans to expand regionally, starting with Europe, Asia, and Latin America, and will collaborate with local banks and institutions to reach underbanked populations. The rollout will be contingent upon regulatory approvals and partnerships. Collins noted that the partnership with Visa completes the on-chain banking infrastructure, while Mathieu Altwegg, Visa's Head of Product & Solutions in Europe, emphasized that the collaboration demonstrates the interaction between Visa's global network and on-chain models, ensuring reliability and compliance with regulatory frameworks.