Visa Introduces its Blockchain powered Visa B2B Connect cross-border payments network

Visa announced the launch of blockchain powered Visa B2B connect cross-border payments network.

The new Visa B2B Connect payments network will allow financial institutions to quickly and securely process high-value corporate cross-border payments globally. Visa B2B Connect is based on the open source Hyperledger Fabric framework from the Linux Foundation, in partnership with IBM.

Executive Opinion

SVP, global head of Visa Business Solutions, Kevin Phalen, "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.”

General manager, IBM Blockchain, Marie Wieck, "Working together on Visa B2B Connect, we are combining the strengths of the world's leader in electronic payments with IBM's recognized 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 and transparent transactions globally."

Visa's entry into the Global Money Transfer Market

The product tokenizes the entity's sensitive business information, like banking details and account numbers. To reduce the possibility of fraud, it assigns a unique identifier to the entity. This unique identifier then used to conduct transactions on the network. This process saves time spent in conducting cross-border corporate transactions and facilitates transactions from the bank of origin directly to the beneficiary bank.

Visa B2B Connect is closed and permissioned blockchain network. All members of this distributed ledger network are known participants. Visa has onboarded other partners such as Bottomline and FIS who will take Visa B2B Connect platform to their participating bank clients, notes the announcement.

The Visa B2B Connect launch will cover more than 30 global trade corridors. Visa plans to expand its footprint to 90 markets by the end of 2019.