News earlier this month that Visa launched its Visa Ready Program for Business Solutions, a collection of B2B payment and finance services, from virtual cards to AP automation, to accelerate companies’ use of such digital tools.
But it’s not the first time the credit card conglomerate has made inroads in the B2B payments sphere – instead, it’s only the latest for the company.
Last year, Visa revealed it was working with blockchain company Chain to develop Visa B2B Connect, a platform for FIs to make payments and settle funds for corporate clients using blockchain infrastructure.
In an interview with PYMNTS at the time, Chain’s Ludwin explained that real-time payments are becoming a necessity for corporates and that blockchain brings that capabilities to the banks.
“There is now an expectation — and, in fact, a frustration — that [real-time payments] aren’t already a reality,” he said.
And while the financial services industry has embraced electronic payments, that technology can only send payment instructions electronically — not actually move the funds.
“That triggers a still fairly manual, multistep, bank-to-bank rippling of updates to different, siloed ledgers,” he said.
An earlier version of this article linked to a Finextra post that has since been taken down.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More