Visa (NYSE:V), a digital payments enabler, and Pismo announced a strategic collaboration with Circle Asia Technologies, a credit-led neobank in Southeast Asia, to unlock credit for Vietnam based clients. This will enable Circle to launch an AI-enabled PayLater card aiming to set standards for personalization, and user experience in the financial services industry.
Slated for a phased rollout early next year, the card is now reportedly being engineered to dismantle the barriers “that have led to Vietnam’s low credit card penetration.”
Powered by AI, it will offer users a way to build credit with instant approval, make payments globally and manage their finances with unprecedented ease and security bypassing the need for a bank account.”
Using AI modeling, Circle can determine risk and “underwrite a customer with an active virtual credit card, that also offers flexible installment features as part of Circle PayLater, in under 5 minutes.”
This initiative is possible through a collab with one of Vietnam’s largest and most trusted commercial banks, ensuring compliance as well as market scale.
Pismo delivers an API and microservices-based platform that is “designed for resilient performance.”
Acquired by Visa back in 2024, Pismo remains “network-agnostic, continuing to work with multiple card networks.”
The integration of Pismo’s tech with Visa’s infrastructure is said to be enabling the modernization of core banking and payment capabilities via cloud-native APIs—allowing FIs and fintechs to scale and offer value-added services.
As covered last month, Visa Inc. announced a pilot enabling businesses and platforms to send payouts directly to recipients’ stablecoin wallets. For businesses using Visa Direct, payouts may now be funded in fiat money, while recipients can choose to receive their funds in USD-backed stablecoins such as USDC, transforming the overall efficiency and accessibility of payouts.
This update expands the reach of Visa Direct by offering digital creators, freelancers, and marketplaces with a “stable store of value and faster access to funds – even in markets facing currency volatility or limited banking infrastructure.”
Chris Newkirk, President, Commercial & Money Movement Solutions, Visa, has said that launching stablecoin payouts is “about enabling universal access to money in minutes – not days – for anyone, anywhere.”