Circle and ACI Worldwide are testing whether USDC can settle within Colombia’s established instant-payments infrastructure, a step that could inform a wider Latin American rollout. The pilot links Circle’s stablecoin technology with ACI’s payments platform on Bre-B, a network that processed more than 500 million transactions in its first five months. That activity gives the companies a live environment in which to examine how digital-dollar settlement might fit alongside payments already moving through the country’s banking system.
Stablecoin settlement meets live payment infrastructure
Announced October 27, 2026, the project combines USDC with ACI Connetic, ACI’s cloud-based payments orchestration platform. Financial institutions will be able to assess stablecoin settlement alongside conventional payment rails through systems they already use. The setup places the test inside familiar institutional workflows, where operational demands can be assessed as part of the payment process rather than in a separate demonstration.
Bre-B is Colombia’s interoperable instant-payments network, operated by Banco de la República, the country’s central bank. ACI built the network’s central infrastructure. By March 2026, Bre-B had also surpassed 100 million registered payment keys, according to a research summary of its early activity. Transaction volume and registered keys describe different aspects of adoption: one reflects payments processed, while the other indicates the reach of the network’s addressing system.
That scale gives the pilot a practical test environment. The central question is whether a dollar-pegged digital asset can work within incumbent banking infrastructure, rather than requiring institutions to rely on a separate payments network. The distinction matters because adding a settlement option to an existing system can involve different integration work from building a new route for payments. ACI’s global head of account-to-account payments, Craig Ramsey, said the stablecoin discussion was “moving from possibility to practicality.”
This is more significant than it looks: the test concerns how institutions connect systems and manage settlement, not just whether USDC can be transferred. If you're working in this space, the useful signal will be whether the pilot can operate through established payment processes without imposing a separate set of day-to-day procedures.
A platform designed to support multiple providers
Although the initial test uses USDC, Circle says the arrangement is technology-agnostic. ACI Connetic is designed to support other payment networks and digital-asset providers over time. The companies’ stated aim is to let institutions examine compliance and operational processes across multiple payment rails within frameworks they already know. That design could make the platform relevant beyond a single stablecoin, though the announcement describes an intended capability, not proof that other providers have been tested.
For ACI, the pilot builds on its role in Bre-B’s underlying infrastructure. The company is working at the point where an existing national payments network meets a new settlement instrument, giving it a direct role in the integration being examined. For Circle, it extends efforts to bring USDC into established financial channels across emerging markets. The company previously gained a Latin American presence through Mercado Pago, the fintech arm associated with a major regional online retailer, which integrated USDC in Argentina.
That earlier integration provides regional context, but it doesn't establish that the Colombia pilot will follow the same path or reach the same users. The arrangements involve different institutions and payment systems. Here’s the thing: the value of the Colombia test will depend on what participating institutions can learn about connecting stablecoin settlement to Bre-B, not simply on the presence of another USDC relationship in the region.
Scope and timing remain open
The announcement gives no start date or duration for the Colombia pilot and does not identify participating banks. Without those details, it’s difficult to judge how broad the test will be, which transaction flows it will cover, or how institutions will measure its performance. Those facts will shape how much the test reveals about institutional demand and the operational work required to settle stablecoins through existing payment systems.
The announcement also leaves open how the companies will assess the pilot’s results. A test can show that two systems connect, while still leaving questions about routine operations, the range of participating institutions, and whether the arrangement can support activity beyond a limited trial. And yet, testing within an established network gives the companies a concrete setting for examining those questions.
What the pilot could mean for regional expansion
For now, Bre-B’s transaction volume makes Colombia a meaningful proving ground. The network offers a working payments environment in which institutions can examine how USDC settlement interacts with existing rails. But a large network alone doesn't establish demand for stablecoin settlement, and the announcement does not say that institutions have committed to broader use.
Any wider regional expansion will depend on what institutions learn from integrating USDC with the network’s established rails. The test could help identify technical and operational requirements that matter to other markets, but each rollout would still depend on its own payment infrastructure and institutional participation. The key evidence will come from the pilot’s scope, its participating institutions, and what the companies disclose about the results. For now, a live test. A regional template remains a possibility, not an established outcome.