Visa, Mastercard Play Down Stablecoins for Payments as Consumer Demand Falls Short

• Visa and Mastercard CEOs downplayed stablecoins in late January 2026 earnings calls, stating they see no “product-market fit” for everyday payments in developed markets.
• Standard Chartered warned of a $500 billion deposit flight from traditional banks to stablecoins by 2028, specifically threatening the profit margins of US regional lenders.
• A legal loophole in the 2025 GENIUS Act is the main battleground, as banks lobby to stop third-party exchanges from paying the high yields that are luring customers away.

Executives from Visa and Mastercard have said this week that stablecoins basically have no demand apart from trading.

Despite the payment giants’ continued experimentation with blockchain settlement, both firms have laid out in their earning calls that stablecoins have yet to show meaningful consumer demand for everyday payments, particularly in developed markets.

For his part, Visa’s CEO Ryan McInerney said US consumers already have easy ways to pay digitally through bank accounts, adding that Visa does not see strong product-market fit for stablecoin payments in digitally developed markets. 

Similarly, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said stablecoins are “another currency” the firm can support within its network, but he also said the dominant use case remains trading rather than retail payments.

For us, stablecoins are another currency we can support within our network. We’ve made good traction enabling the purchase of these assets, facilitating transactions, and supporting stablecoins for settlement over our network.

Michael Miebach, Mastercard CEO.

Read more: Why 75% of APAC Investors Still Avoid Crypto: New Data Upends Adoption Myths

No Hype Over Stablecoins

Card networks see limited consumer adoption, but interestingly, banks are focused on a different issue: deposits. 

As Crypto News Australia reported, Standard Chartered said stablecoins could draw up to US$500 billion (AU$765 billion) out of US and other developed-market banks by the end of 2028. 

The bank estimates that, over time, about one-third of stablecoin market value could come from funds that would otherwise sit in checking or savings accounts.

The warning comes as dollar-backed stablecoins continue to expand and US lawmakers move closer to establishing a dedicated legal framework for digital assets. Stablecoins can move across payment networks continuously, settle almost instantly, and in some cases offer returns. 

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