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The travel 'nightmare' that's luring payment tech developers. New virtual card and AI tools are simplifying business payments and shifting how credit is issued at the point of sale. Curated by Financing Your Way from original reporting by American Banker - Top News. Summary is AI-assisted and editorially reviewed - see its editorial standards. The travel industry is seeing a massive push toward virtual cards and automated payment technology. This shift is designed to fix the 'nightmare' of fragmented booking and expense management. For business owners and retailers, this means a smoother bridge between purchasing and financing. Companies like Nium and American Express GBT are rolling out tools that automate complex payment workflows. This isn't just about moving money; it's about 'agentic commerce' where software handles the logic of payments based on specific business rules. For operators, this trend signals a move toward more integrated financing at the point of purchase. Virtual cards allow for instant credit issuance with strict controls. This reduces the risk of fraud and overspending compared to traditional corporate cards. If you deal with business-to-business sales or high-ticket service bookings, keep an eye on these virtual card rails. They are quickly becoming the preferred way for clients to pay and manage their budgets in real-time. The technology is moving away from manual invoicing toward instant, digital-first credit solutions that work globally. Who else is covering this

Visa and Nium launch 7-day stablecoin pilot under Singapore's BLOOM. What to know: * Visa and Nium will test seven-day stablecoin settlement under Singapore's BLOOM pilot. * The pilot covers dollar- and euro-backed stablecoins on weekends and public holidays. * BLOOM connects stablecoin rails with existing payment security and compliance controls. Visa has joined Singapore's BLOOM initiative and selected Nium for its first pilot under the program. The companies will test seven-day cross-border settlement with regulated stablecoins backed by U.S. dollars and euros across payment flows. As per a report, the Monetary Authority of Singapore leads BLOOM. It will examine how financial institutions can connect traditional payment systems with stablecoin rails during periods when ordinary bank settlement is unavailable. Existing security and compliance controls will remain part of the process. Why is Visa testing stablecoin settlement with Nium? Nium will become Visa's first partner in this setup. Visa and Nium will test if the stablecoins can be used to settle payment obligations during the weekend and public holidays. This test will include the settlement of payments during the entire week, including days when banks are closed. The test will study whether regulated stablecoins will solve such delays and how fast institutions can access settled payments. The scope of the initial project is focused on stablecoins that are backed by the dollar and the euro. Neither company disclosed what stablecoins would be tested. The project is going to focus on the process of settlement rather than on how customers would start their payments. Visa stated that the stablecoins would increase the programmability of payment flows and assist institutions with managing settlements out of banking hours. How does BLOOM link payments and stablecoins? Adeline Kim, Visa regional Southeast Asia Group Country Manager of Visa and senior vice president of Global Clients and Acquirers in Asia Pacific, said that different types of money would require interconnectivity among different payment networks. "The future of payments will be shaped by how different forms of money and payment networks work together for different use cases," Kim added. The pilot project is the integration of a global card network and cross-border payment platform in BLOOM. It aims at ensuring interoperability between legacy financial systems and the stablecoin settlement system. BLOOM was launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2025. The BLOOM project deals with payment systems using tokenized bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins. As reported earlier, BLOOM also covers multi-currency settlement, corporate treasury, trade finance, and automated payments. Earlier participants included Circle, DBS, OCBC, Partior, Stripe, and UOB. Another BLOOM test was announced in March. Ripple and supply-chain finance company Unloq used RLUSD on the XRP Ledger. Their system connected settlement with shipment verification and financing conditions. What supports Visa's stablecoin settlement strategy? Visa has previously expanded its stablecoin and currency capabilities. These include handling of assets like USDC and euro-based EURC through their settlement platform. They have also added blockchain platforms to address institutional settlement requirements. Visa's Chief Executive Ryan McInerney talked about this strategy during the firm's July fiscal third-quarter earnings call of the firm. He called the strategy "multi-coin, multi-chain." McInerney noted that the company would not favor any particular stablecoin as a winner. Visa registered a net revenue of $11.63 billion for the quarter. Their payment volume and transaction volume each grew by 10% compared to the last year. Cross-border volume grew by 13% during the same reporting period. The pilot will aim at continuous settlement with control mechanisms intact. The test will look into the connectivity of stablecoins' rails to the existing payment network. The test will cover cross-border settlements out of business hours throughout the week.

Visa taps Nium for stablecoin settlement pilot under Singapore BLOOM. Visa has joined Singapore's BLOOM initiative and selected Nium for a pilot testing seven-day settlement with regulated U.S. dollar and euro-backed stablecoins across cross-border payment flows. * Visa has joined Singapore's BLOOM initiative to test stablecoin settlement with Nium. * The pilot will explore settlements seven days a week, including weekends and public holidays. * Regulated stablecoins backed by the U.S. dollar and euro will be supported. * Nium is Visa's first partner for a stablecoin settlement pilot under BLOOM. Visa said in an announcement that the Monetary Authority of Singapore-led program will test how financial institutions can connect traditional payment systems with stablecoin payment rails while retaining existing security and compliance controls. Nium will serve as Visa's first partner under the framework, with the companies examining whether stablecoins can settle payment obligations throughout the week, including weekends and public holidays. Traditional payment settlement often remains tied to banking days, creating periods when institutions cannot complete parts of the settlement process. Under the pilot, Visa and Nium will study how regulated stablecoins backed by major currencies can reduce such delays and give participating financial institutions faster access to funds. The initial scope includes dollar and euro-denominated stablecoins, though the companies did not identify individual tokens that would be used. Visa stablecoin settlement pilot targets seven-day payments. For financial institutions, the test focuses on the settlement layer behind payments instead of changing how customers initiate transactions. Visa said stablecoins could make payment flows more programmable and allow institutions to manage settlement outside normal banking hours while using its network, security systems and compliance controls. Discover more Engineering & Technology Brokerages & Day Trading Currencies & Foreign Exchange Adeline Kim, Visa's group country manager for Regional Southeast Asia and senior vice president for Global Clients and Acquirers in Asia Pacific, said different forms of money will increasingly need to operate across connected payment networks. "The future of payments will be shaped by how different forms of money and payment networks work together for different use cases," Kim said. Visa's work under BLOOM follows several stablecoin settlement projects that have moved beyond tests focused only on public blockchain transfers. In June, crypto.news reported on a private settlement test involving Visa, Brale and the Canton Network. The proof of concept used Brale's U.S. dollar-backed SBC stablecoin to examine whether institutions could settle transactions onchain while limiting the public visibility of sensitive payment and settlement data. Privacy was central to that project because regulated financial institutions often need blockchain infrastructure that can preserve transaction confidentiality while keeping records available for compliance and audit requirements. BLOOM expands Singapore's tokenized settlement work. The Monetary Authority of Singapore introduced BLOOM in 2025 as a framework for developing settlement systems based on tokenized bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins. As previously covered on crypto.news, BLOOM was designed around cross-border and domestic payments, multi-currency settlement and institutional applications including corporate treasury, trade finance and automated payments. Participants named at the time included Circle, DBS, OCBC, Partior, Stripe and UOB. BLOOM also built on Project Orchid, MAS's earlier work on programmable money and a potential digital Singapore dollar. More than 10 Project Orchid trials were used to study practical digital-money applications before parts of that work were carried into commercial projects. One BLOOM test announced in March involved Ripple and supply-chain finance company Unloq using RLUSD on the XRP Ledger. The companies were testing a trade-finance system in which settlement could be linked with shipment verification and financing conditions. Visa's pilot adds a global card network and a cross-border payments provider to the program, with the focus placed specifically on interoperability between conventional payment infrastructure and stablecoin settlement. Kim said Visa is examining how stablecoins can complement existing payment systems while preserving "the security, resilience and compliance standards that underpin global commerce." Nium adds BLOOM to its stablecoin payment work. For Nium, the Singapore pilot follows its previous work using stablecoins for international business payments. In April, the company announced a USDC payout integration with Coinbase that brought stablecoin-based cross-border payments into Nium's network spanning more than 190 countries. The setup allows businesses to fund payouts using USDC and settle in either stablecoins or local currencies. Coinbase provides custody, liquidity and wallet infrastructure for the service. Nium said at the time that clients could fund payouts on demand instead of maintaining prefunded balances for each market, addressing one of the liquidity requirements associated with conventional international payment systems. The BLOOM pilot tests another part of the process by focusing on settlement between participating financial institutions and Visa. Amaresh Mohan, Nium's chief risk and compliance officer, said the companies are building infrastructure connecting established payment networks with stablecoin rails. "This convergence is not only inevitable, it's essential," Mohan said, adding that combining established payment networks with programmable digital currencies could provide new settlement options for financial institutions. Visa has expanded onchain settlement across nine networks. Visa already runs stablecoin settlement infrastructure across several blockchain networks. An April stablecoin settlement expansion added Base, Polygon, Canton, Arc and Tempo to its pilot, bringing the total number of supported networks to nine alongside Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche and Stellar. Visa reported an annualized stablecoin settlement run rate of about $7 billion at the time, up 50% from the previous quarter. By June, Visa said issuing banks participating in its onchain programs could already settle with the network seven days a week. The company was also working to extend seven-day settlement to acquirers, which receive funds on behalf of merchants after card transactions are processed. Discover more Digital Currencies Visa has also added support for multiple stablecoins and currencies to keep its settlement system from depending on a single token. Its infrastructure has supported assets including USDC and euro-backed EURC, while the company has continued adding blockchain networks based on institutional settlement requirements. During Visa's July fiscal third-quarter earnings call, Chief Executive Ryan McInerney described the company's stablecoin strategy as "multi-coin, multi-chain" and said Visa did not intend to select a single stablecoin winner. The company reported $11.63 billion in quarterly net revenue, while payment volume and processed transactions each rose 10% year over year and cross-border volume increased 13%. For the Singapore test, Visa and Nium have not disclosed a launch timetable, expected transaction volume, or the financial institutions that could participate beyond the two companies. Mohan said the BLOOM work is intended to establish interoperability between traditional and stablecoin-based rails while keeping compliance requirements embedded in the settlement process. Read more: