Checkbook and Visa Partner on Instant Payments for Business Disbursements

Checkbook and Visa have come together in a new collaboration aimed at improving the availability of instant payments for businesses, institutions and individuals across the country.

This partnership builds on previous collaborations between the two companies, with Checkbook having participated in Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program in 2021 and their Virtual Card program, the companies said in a Wednesday (Feb. 28) press release.

The latest collaboration involves Checkbook implementing Visa Direct, a move that will enhance the ability of businesses to send and receive fast payments, the release said.

“Our goal at Checkbook has always been to offer our customers a comprehensive suite of modern payment options with a single API [application programming interface],” PJ Gupta, CEO and founder of Checkbook, said in the release.

Checkbook’s modern payments platform allows businesses to send payments with just an email address or phone number, according to the release. Recipients do not need to create an account, download an app or share sensitive bank account information.

Through Checkbook’s payments platform, businesses can send real-time payments directly to customers’ bank accounts with one API call, the release said. This eliminates the complications and overhead often associated with facilitating payments.

Businesses use the Checkbook platform for paying insurance claims, vendors, contractors, wages, tips, rebates, and other payments to their customers and other businesses, per the release.

Visa Direct provides access to over 8.5 billion endpoints and helps facilitate the delivery of funds to billions of eligible cards, bank accounts and wallets around the world, according to the release.

The partnership of Checkbook and Visa will enable businesses to meet the demand for speed and efficiency, Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, North America head at Visa Direct, said in the release.

“We’re proud to collaborate with companies like Checkbook that are helping to streamline global money movement and disburse funds quickly and securely with Visa Direct,” Gonzalez-Ore said in the release.

In another recent partnership, Web3 payments infrastructure provider Transak said in January that it joined Visa Direct to enable users in over 145 countries to convert their cryptocurrency holdings into local fiat currencies. The fiat can be spent at the more than 130 million merchant locations where Visa is accepted.