Visa, M-Pesa and Onafriq have launched a pilot in the Democratic Republic of Congo that settles cross-border mobile payments with U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins. The test targets Sub-Saharan Africa’s remittance costs, which the World Bank puts at nearly 8% of each transfer.
Visa, mobile money platform M-Pesa, and pan-African payments network Onafriq have launched a pilot program that settles cross-border mobile transactions with stablecoins in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to industry reports, the initiative tests whether blockchain-powered digital assets can make international money transfers faster and cheaper across Africa.
Why the DRC pilot targets remittance costs
The World Bank estimates that sending money across borders in Sub-Saharan Africa costs an average of nearly 8% of the transfer amount, the most expensive remittance corridor in the world. Traditional transfers that rely on the SWIFT network often take days and pass through multiple intermediary banks, each taking a fee. Blockchain-based settlement, by contrast, can process transactions in minutes at a fraction of the cost.
For consumers on platforms like Safaricom’s M-Pesa, the stablecoin integration is meant to streamline back-end operations while keeping the familiar mobile money interface. If successful, the pilot could lead to quicker wallet top-ups, smoother international business transactions, and lower remittance costs for everyday users.
A digital dollar meets Congo’s franc push
The choice of the DRC comes amid rapid growth in the country’s mobile money adoption. It also aligns with Visa’s wider move into digital currencies; the firm partnered with African crypto exchange Yellow Card to explore stablecoin treasury operations and international settlements.
That shift presents a complex dynamic for local regulators. The Central Bank of Congo has sought to reduce the heavy dollarization of the DRC economy and boost use of the local franc, whereas stablecoin solutions embed a digital version of the U.S. dollar into the nation’s fast-growing mobile transaction network.
Source: Bitcoin News
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