Monthly payments made through stablecoin-linked cards hit a record $1.17 billion in September, or about 1.6 trillion won.

CryptoSlate, a blockchain media outlet, reported on Sept. 30 that the total surpassed August even though it was compiled before September ended.

The market is expanding by linking stablecoins to existing card payment networks. Cuy Sheffield (쿠이 셰필드), head of Visa's crypto division, said issuers are linking dollar-denominated tokens to existing card networks rather than waiting for merchants to adopt direct crypto payments. He said stablecoin-linked cards have entered an "ultra-fast growth mode."

Still, rising payment value does not mean more frequent payments. PaymentScan data showed September transactions fell to 11 million from 11.07 million in August. Active addresses slipped to 283,761 from 287,634. PaymentScan counts addresses rather than individual users, and RedotPay, the largest card program among those tracked, does not disclose active addresses.

With fewer transactions but more value, the average transaction size in September rose to about $107, or about 145,310 won. That meant more value was processed through a smaller number of recorded payments.

By blockchain, Coinbase-backed Base accounted for the largest share of stablecoin card payments. PaymentScan on-chain data showed tracked networks processed $788.9 million in September, with Base at $216.8 million, or 27.5 percent. Optimism posted $127.0 million and Solana $109.3 million. Stellar recorded $69.3 million, Polygon $50.9 million, Ethereum $49.5 million and Plasma $38.3 million. The remaining 11 blockchains shared $127.8 million.

On-chain payments differ from overall payments. PaymentScan put total September payments at $1.13 billion, or about 1.535 trillion won, because some programs may include off-chain clearing and settlement data provided by issuers.

By card program, RedotPay recorded the largest amount. Payments over the past 30 days were $401.9 million, equivalent to about $4.9 billion on an annualised basis. EtherFi followed with $127.4 million, and KAST recorded $113.1 million. Carta and Wirex One made the top five with $48.7 million and $46.9 million, respectively.

Growth rates varied by program. Over the past 30 days, RedotPay payments rose 3 percent, while EtherFi increased 20.3 percent, KAST 11.1 percent, Carta 14.4 percent and Wirex One 40.1 percent.

Tiger Research said the next phase of competition depends on whether firms can build users and lasting financial relationships, rather than simply expanding payment value. It said using existing payment networks, as debit cards did when they became commercialised in the 1990s, can bypass the barrier of merchant acceptance of crypto payments. But it said there are still limits to securing payroll deposits, recurring spending and primary account relationships.

Competition is therefore expected to shift from payment value itself to how much day-to-day financial activity issuers can capture. In particular, a key challenge is whether card issuers can expand influence into everyday finance in markets where banks and global payment companies have relatively low penetration.