# Visa and Stripe's Bridge to Expand Stablecoin Cards to 100+ Countries

*Author: David Christopher*
*Published: Mar 3, 2026*
*Source: https://www.bankless.com/read/news/visa-and-stripes-bridge-to-expand-stablecoin-cards-to-100-countries*

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[Visa and Stripe-owned Bridge](https://www.theblock.co/post/392019/visa-and-stripe-plan-global-expansion-of-stablecoin-card-issuance-product-to-over-100-countries) intend to expand their stablecoin-linked card product from 18 countries to over 100 by year-end, spanning Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East, beyond their initial focus of Central and South America.

### **What's the Scoop?**
- **How It Works:** The cards let users make everyday purchases by drawing from stablecoins in wallets, and are accepted across Visa's 175M merchant locations.
- **Settlement Pilot:** The companies also kicked off a stablecoin settlement pilot last year to test how Visa issuers and acquirers can use stablecoins for onchain payment settlement. 
- **Bridge's Regulatory Status:** In February, Bridge won conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national bank charter, enabling the firm to custody crypto, issue stablecoins, and manage reserves.

### **Bankless Take:**
This will expand Stripe’s next level of the stack, cards. So far they have:

- **Issuance** via Bridge.
- **Distribution** via Tempo.
And now, 

- **Point of Sale** via their stablecoin-linked card.
It’s a pretty hefty stack that’s looking increasingly difficult to compete against. With Tempo's testnet closing in on three months live, announcements like these may be preparatory work before a mainnet launch. If so, it looks like Temp will have everything it needs to compete as a major payments player once that time comes.