ACI Worldwide and Circle announced on 27 October 2026 a collaboration to show how USDC stablecoin settlement can run inside existing bank and payment infrastructure, starting in Colombia, where ACI built the central infrastructure for the Bre-B instant payments system, according to ACI’s announcement. Fintechbits checked Banco de la República’s Bre-B page, which lists more than 116 million registered keys, more than 36 million registered users and more than one billion operations, 62% of them under 50,000 pesos. USDC has to find a place next to a domestic rail that busy.

What ACI Worldwide and Circle are building

The project uses ACI Connetic, ACI’s cloud payments orchestration platform, and Circle’s USDC infrastructure. The aim, in ACI’s words, is to demonstrate how financial institutions can add stablecoin settlement to existing payment operations rather than build a separate crypto stack. ACI Connetic already brings traditional payment types, digital assets and card payments onto one platform, so USDC becomes one more rail a bank can route to.

Colombia is the first market because of ACI’s role in Bre-B, the country’s interoperable instant payments system. ACI says the work explores how stablecoins such as USDC can sit alongside Bre-B and help build a more connected, multi-rail system.

“The conversation around stablecoins is moving from possibility to practicality,” said Craig Ramsey, global head of account-to-account payments at ACI Worldwide, in the announcement.

What the ACI Worldwide and Circle release leaves out

The announcement describes a demonstration. It names no participating Colombian bank, gives no go-live date, no volumes and no pricing, and does not say whether Banco de la República is involved. Kash Razzaghi, Circle’s chief commercial officer, describes it as a way for institutions “to explore how USDC can fit into established payment environments”, which is careful language.

ACI also says Connetic supports other payment networks, digital asset providers and settlement models, so USDC is not exclusive. That matches the pattern Fintechbits found when Circle’s stablecoins were built into Tereina’s SAP Pay: a distribution slot with proof-of-value programmes and no named customer settling in USDC.

Fintechbits analysis

Why ACI Worldwide and Circle picked the hardest market to impress

Bre-B is already doing what instant payment advocates promised. A rail with more than 116 million keys, more than 36 million users and most operations under 50,000 pesos is a domestic peso system, and it works. Colombians paying each other in pesos do not need a dollar stablecoin in the middle.

So the real use case for ACI Worldwide and Circle sits at the edges: cross-border settlement, dollar treasury for businesses, and remittances into Colombia, where a dollar token that settles around the clock could connect to Bre-B for the last step. ACI’s position matters here. A bank that already runs Bre-B traffic through ACI, and uses Connetic elsewhere, as Solaris did for SEPA Instant, can test USDC without a new vendor.

For Circle, the value is distribution: every bank that adds USDC to its payment hub through ACI is one more place USDC can circulate without Circle signing each bank itself. For ACI, the deal gives Connetic a stablecoin option to sell to banks and processors that already run its software. The shared weakness with many stablecoin infrastructure deals in 2026 is that the plumbing arrives before the customer, and ACI Worldwide and Circle give no number to judge the project by.

Frequently asked questions

What are ACI Worldwide and Circle doing in Colombia?

ACI Worldwide and Circle are working to show how USDC settlement can run alongside existing payment rails through ACI Connetic. Colombia is first because ACI built the central infrastructure for Bre-B, according to ACI’s announcement.

What is Bre-B?

Bre-B is Colombia’s interoperable instant payments system run by Banco de la República. Its official page lists more than 116 million registered keys and more than 36 million registered users.

Is USDC settlement live in Colombia?

The announcement describes a collaboration to demonstrate USDC settlement and names no bank or launch date. ACI says the initiative is designed to help institutions evaluate stablecoin settlement.

What to Watch Next

The test is a name. If ACI Worldwide and Circle announce a Colombian bank or payment company settling real transactions in USDC through Connetic in 2027, with a use case such as remittances or business dollar accounts, the project has a market. If the next update is another demonstration, Bre-B will keep growing in pesos without it.