UnionBank does a world’s first, pilot tests Visa’s new B2B payments system
As the rise of digital money threatens to disrupt global payments system, traditional financial institutions are fighting back by riding on the same game-changing technology that enables the trading of cryptocurrencies, making cross-border funds transfers easier and cheaper, especially for small and medium enterprises. Visa’s Vikram Kshettry and Union Bank’s Justo Ortiz Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines—an institution that deems itself as a bank and a technology company rolled in one—has become the first bank in the world to pilot test with global payments solutions firm Visa a new platform for cross-border B2B (business-to-business) payments using the blockchain technology. Visa and UnionBank announced on Monday the successful pilot of bank-to-bank cross-border payments using the Visa B2B Connect platform ahead of the commercial launch of this new B2B solution by the third quarter of this year. UnionBank is thus among the handful of institutions selected for Visa’s global pilo