Stellar Development Foundation announced major expansions to the Stellar Disbursement Platform, adding one-off payments, USDC purchasing, and smart wallet support. A case study showed GIZ using SDP to pay healthcare workers in Syria, reducing payment times from months to days and saving 400,000 euros annually.
The Stellar Development Foundation presented significant updates to the Stellar Disbursement Platform, transforming it from a bulk payment tool into a comprehensive enterprise payment solution. New features include one-off payments to individuals and businesses, direct USDC purchasing in the dashboard, bank transfer acceptance via Bridge, simplified deployment, and smart wallet support. The presentation featured a detailed case study of GIZ, a German development agency with 4 billion euros annual turnover, using SDP to pay healthcare workers in Syria. Previously, salaries took up to four months to arrive due to banking infrastructure collapse and currency shortages. With SDP and the Digibank app, payments now arrive in days, and the organization saves approximately 400,000 euros annually, enough to fund an entire healthcare facility. The solution demonstrates blockchain's potential for financial inclusion in underbanked regions, enabling both traditional employees and freelancers to access cross-border payments via smartphones.