Visa Set to Join the Expanding Field of Blockchain-Based International Payment Providers

Visa has launched a payment system for business-to-business transactions partially based on blockchain technology.

The United States payment behemoth says its platform, called Visa B2B Connect, offers seamless cross-border payment processing for institutional clients without going through the complex web of third-party intermediaries.

Visa becomes the latest entrant into the blockchain-based payment processing arena.

At the time, the credit/debit card payment giant said the service would be developed in partnership with blockchain startup Chain.

The company replaced Chain as its partner on the project, electing instead to go with fintech firm FIS, e-payment operator Bottomline Technologies and IBM.Starting in 2017, the company began to announce job vacancies for crypto and blockchain experts to work on a new payment gateway.

Three years on, Visa has finally gone ahead with the launch of its payment service, which promises near-real-time settlement for B2B transactions.

"We provide the base layer on top of which developers can build their projects. Visa has integrated with the Hyperledger Fabric 1.0 to create the B2B Connect platform. They [Visa] partnered with IBM to implement the payment technology infrastructure."

Blockchain technology in cross-border paymentsVisa is the latest mainstream actor in the payment processing arena to announce a product that utilizes DLT in its settlement infrastructure.

Tweeting on June 14, Henry Blodget, the CEO of Business Insider, maintained that the legacy digital payment systems worked fine and do not need to be replaced with cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

Still, even SWIFT, the international payment network, has its sights set on blockchain technology adoption to further improve the operational capabilities of its GPI. In January, SWIFT announced a partnership with R3 to develop a blockchain-powered upgrade to its GPI technology in the hopes of further reducing the throughput time for international payments.