Visa’s Blockchain Payments Platform B2B Connect Launches Globally

Payments giant Visa has announced that its blockchain-based platform, called Visa B2B Connect, is now commercially available.

First announced in October 2016, Visa B2B Connect is a platform for banks to make payments and settle funds across borders using open source Hyperledger Fabric framework from the Linux Foundation. It aims to significantly improve the way international B2B payments are made by offering clear costs, improved delivery time and visibility into the transaction process. Its digital identity feature tokenizes an organization’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 platform.

The Visa B2B Connect launch will give financial institutions an ability to quickly and securely process high-value corporate cross-border payments globally. The launch will cover more than 30 global trade corridors, with an aim to expand to as many as 90 markets by the end of this year.

“Launching Visa B2B Connect marks an important industry milestone which will accelerate the evolution of how commercial payments move around the world,” said Kevin Phalen, SVP, global head of Visa Business Solutions. “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.”

According to Visa, a number of banks participated in the platform’s pilot program, including Commerce Bank and Cornèr Bank. Both banks believe that Visa B2B Connect will change the way cross-border payments are made and will create a substantial added value for their corporate clients.

“With Visa B2B Connect, we are leveraging Visa’s existing assets and our expertise in cybersecurity, data privacy, the scale of our network – and layering that with new elements of distributed-ledger technology to meet unique needs of this industry,” said Sam Hamilton, SVP, data product development at Visa. “This lays the foundation for a service with the potential to transform cross-border payments.”