Visa Direct is positioning itself to modernize government disbursements that remain stuck in the check era, despite the availability of instant push-to-card infrastructure. The irony is stark: while consumers can Venmo thousands of dollars on a Sunday night and see instant settlement, government agencies still mail paper checks for tax refunds and benefit payments.
For direct-acquiring PSPs and card-not-present merchants, this signals a broader shift in how money moves across verticals. The same real-time rails that power iGaming cashouts, crypto on-ramp settlements, and subscription refunds are now mature enough to handle public-sector disbursements. That validation matters. As regulated entities like government agencies adopt instant card payouts, the legitimacy and reliability of these rails strengthen—reducing friction for high-risk merchants navigating compliance and banking relationships. When the infrastructure can handle billions in government payments, processors like Velocity can point to that same resilience when onboarding forex brokers or crypto platforms that demand settlement speed and regulatory confidence.
Read the full report at PYMNTS.