Visa launched a payment blockchain platform for corporate clients

The largest bank card operator Visa launched a blockchain-based payment service for corporate clients, first announced in October 2016.

As reported by Reuters, the payment giant launched the Visa B2B Connect network, a product that was originally developed in conjunction with the blockchain-startup Chain. According to the report, Visa B2B Connect will serve businesses that make payments in 30 markets, and by the end of 2019 the service is expected to spread to 90 markets.

The service was designed to help Visa’s corporate customers bypass the slow correspondent banking system by making almost instant international payments available using a system based in part on distributed registry technology (DLT).

“By creating a solution that facilitates direct transactions between banks, we eliminate the friction associated with key industry problems,” said Kevin Phalen, Deputy Director and Global Head of Visa Business Solutions, in a statement.

Falen told Reuters that the network is not completely based on distributed registry technology, but it was used for some of the elements, since the blockchain provides more information about payments than traditional systems.

And while Chain, which creates blockchains to support financial systems, played an important role in the development of Visa B2B Connect in its early stages, Visa eventually turned to Hyperledger Fabric to provide a component of the system from the blockchain side with the support of IBM. At the same time, Visa took part in the Chain financing round, having invested $ 30 million in the company in the fall of 2015.
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