Visa B2B Connect To Use Digital IDs For X-Border Payments

Visa has announced new product details in anticipation of the first quarter 2019 launch of its new cross-border B2B payments solution B2B Connect.

“With B2B Connect, we’re developing a new way for businesses to make cross-border, high-value payments — fixing broken processes and breaking down geographic barriers along the way,” Kevin Phalen, global head of Visa Business Solutions at Visa, said in a press release. “B2B Connect will facilitate payments for financial institutions for a variety of industry verticals, including supply chain, trade, institutional banking and more.”

B2B Connect’s digital identity feature tokenizes an organization’s sensitive data, such as banking details and account numbers, giving them a unique identifier that can be used to securely facilitate transactions on the platform.

“B2B Connect’s digital identity greatly reduces the opportunity for fraud that might otherwise exist with checks, ACH and wire transfers today, while also helping companies remain compliant as part of the regulated financial ecosystem,” added Phalen.

Earlier this year it was reported that the company was testing the solution, with several FIs working with Visa to pilot and roll out B2B Connect. Those firms include UnionBank, Shinhan Bank, Commerce Bank in the U.S. and United Overseas Bank in Singapore.

In anticipation of the launch, Visa has also expanded partnerships to add functionality to the B2B Connect platform. The company revealed that it is integrating open source Hyperledger Fabric framework from the Linux Foundation with Visa’s core assets to improve facilitating financial transactions. And FinTech company Bottomline Technologies is working with Visa to be the first partner to integrate its solution with B2B Connect.

“Bottomline serves 1,200 financial institutions globally, and they are always looking to us to provide them with value-add innovations that simplify processes and increase efficiencies,” said Rob Eberle, president & CEO, Bottomline Technologies. ”We’re thrilled to work with Visa on this integration to enable our mutual financial institution clients to easily access the B2B Connect platform.”