Visa, one of the world's largest credit card networks, recently announced that it successfully tested a solution that allows users to pay on-chain gas fees directly with legal currency on the Ethereum Goerli testnet. The scheme utilizes payment agent contracts to pay customers for fuel.

This new solution will allow users to conduct blockchain transactions without having to maintain an Ethereum balance to pay gas fees. Instead, the payment agent contract, combined with account abstraction and ERC-4337, allows users to pay these fees directly with Visa cards.

Visa said merchants or decentralized applications can run dedicated payment agent solutions. Visa’s efforts in the cryptocurrency space complement PayPal’s launch of stablecoins. PayPal last week announced the launch of a stablecoin backed by U.S. dollar deposits and U.S. Treasury securities called PayPal USD (PUSD), issued by blockchain infrastructure company Paxos.

Visa’s efforts to expand blockchain payments and global settlements involving digital currencies and fiat currencies continue to increase. There were rumors earlier this year that Visa’s enthusiasm for digital assets had cooled after the 2022 cryptocurrency winter, but Visa head of cryptocurrency Cuy Sheffield denied this, saying that the company wanted to expand its ties with the emerging industry.