Visa and IBM have announced a partnership where Visa will be integrating the open source Hyperledger Fabric framework from the Linux Foundation into the core assets of its new blockchain-powered payment platform called B2B Connect — which is set to launch in the first quarter of 2019 — with IBM’s Blockchain platform. IBM’s Blockchain Platform was built using Ethereum’s open-source tools. This is going to provide an improved process for financial transactions on a scalable network.
How is this possible? Visa’s B2B Connect distributed ledger-based platform will be able to tokenize sensitive business data such as customer information, banking details, and account numbers. And then it will generate unique identifiers for businesses to set up global payments through the platform. This should reduce fraud while processing global payments and provide companies that adopt the technology to remain compliant with new government regulations.
“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,” said Visa’s head of Business Solutions Kevin Phalen in a statement. “B2B Connect will facilitate payments for financial institutions for a variety of industry verticals, including supply chain, trade, institutional banking and more.”
The collaboration between Visa and IBM builds on a 40-year relationship for the two companies. “When industry leaders in payments and in financial services technology work together using open source technology, the entire business landscape stands to benefit,” added IBM Blockchain Services general manager Jason Kelley. “IBM Blockchain Platform and Hyperledger technology are delivering real business value today and B2B Connect is one of the most powerful examples to date of how blockchain is transforming payments.”
Plus Financial technology company Bottomline Technologies, a company that helps make complex business payments simpler and secure, will be working with Visa as its first partner to integrate its technology with B2B Connect. As a result, Bottomline’s financial institutions that participate in B2B Connect will gain easy access to the platform without requiring complex technology updates.
