Visa to Boost Cross-border Payments

• Visa to Boost Cross-border Payments

Visa has announced the commercial launch of the Visa B2B Connect network.

It is expected to give financial institutions the ability to quickly and securely process high-value corporate cross-border payments globally.

Visa B2B Connect launch would cover 30 global trade corridors, with an aim to expand to as many as 90 markets by end of 2019.

Announcing the initiative, Global Head of Visa Business Solutions, Kevin Phalen, said: “Launching Visa B2B Connect marks an important industry milestone which will accelerate the evolution of how commercial payments move around the world.

“By creating a solution that facilitates direct, bank to bank transactions, we are eliminating friction associated with key industry pain points. With Visa B2B Connect, we are making payments quicker and simpler, while enhancing transparency and consistency of data.”

Visa B2B Connect removes friction and time spent on cross-border corporate transactions by facilitating transactions from the bank of origin directly to the beneficiary bank.

The network’s unique digital identity feature tokenises an organisation’s sensitive business information, such as banking details and account numbers, giving them a unique identifier that can be used to facilitate transactions on the network.

Visa B2B Connect’s digital identity feature will transform the way information is exchanged in business-to-business cross-border transactions.

Executive Vice President Cornèr Bank, Alessandro Seralvo, said: “We are excited to be a pilot partner for Visa B2B Connect. This modern way of carrying out cross-border B2B payments creates a substantial added value for our corporate clients.

“Velocity, security and control of transactions as well as a lower counterparty risks are essential for a successful business with international partners.”

Partners, including Bottomline, FIS and IBM are integral parts of the future scale of Visa B2B Connect. Bottomline and FIS are bringing Visa B2B Connect platform access to its participating bank clients. Along with Visa’s core assets, Visa B2B Connect utilizes open source Hyperledger Fabric framework from the Linux Foundation, in partnership with IBM. This helps provide an improved process to facilitate financial transactions on a scalable, permissioned network.

President and CEO, Bottomline, Rob Eberle, said: “Bottomline is delighted to be working with Visa to accelerate the adoption of innovative ways for businesses to make faster cross-border payments.”

General Manager, IBM Blockchain, Marie Wieck, said:

“Working together on Visa B2B Connect, we are combining the strengths of the world’s leader in electronic payments with IBM’s recognised expertise in helping scale distributed ledger technology. This is a unique example of how blockchain-based architecture can help transform B2B value chains by facilitating secure, trusted transactions globally.”