On Friday, Visa announced it has integrated its blockchain payments platform B2B Connect with Infosys’ fintech offerings. The platform has additionally more than doubled the number of trade corridors it operates in – from 30 to 62.
Visa B2B Connect went live globally in June when the platform reached 30 trade corridors. It uses distributed ledger technology (DLT) to speed up corporate payments. By using Visa’s existing network, it eliminates the need to use a banking network and Swift when moving money internationally.
June’s target of 90 countries for B2B Connect sounded ambitious at the time. Last week, Visa updated its goal to 100 by 2020. Its blockchain platform can be adopted directly or through one of Visa’s partners. Adding Infosys to that list is likely to drive adoption even further.
“Infosys is looking forward to partnering with Visa to create new payment flows for Commercial Payments,” said Narayan Sivaram, VP and global head of cards and payments at Infosys. “We believe that through this engagement we will be able to jointly reach a large number of banks and support their cross border needs.”
Previously announced partners include Bottomline and FIS, which moves $9 trillion each year. Clients which use Bottomline’s payment system, Universal Aggregator, can now make B2B Connect transactions through the system. This allows for minimal deployment times and ease of use.
Rob Eberle, CEO of Bottomline, stated: “The powerful combination of our technologies and continued commitment and investment in cross-border B2B payments innovation will help ensure banks can thrive and grow in the open and faster payments world.”
Indeed, Visa claims its blockchain platform considerably reduces the time to settle funds, provides transparency, and allows for secure payments. “Visa B2B Connect is a fast, secure and more efficient network, designed specifically to overcome obstacles in the cross-border corporate payments space,” said Alan Koenigsberg, global head of new payment flows at Visa Business Solutions.
He continued: “We are excited to bring on Infosys and expand Visa B2B Connect to new geographies – all in a joint effort to accelerate innovation and increase efficiencies for financial institutions and their corporate clients.”
Visa’s platform is based on Hyperledger Fabric, following a partnership with IBM. The previous blockchain provider was Chain.com until it was acquired by Interstellar. Earlier today, Infosys announced it had completed a blockchain trade finance trial with enterprise leader R3.
