Visa’s B2B Payments Tech Tested In Thailand

Visa is expanding the testing of its B2B payments technology, B2B Connect, into Thailand, according to reports. The Nation reported that B2B Connect is now being piloted by Thailand’s largest bank Kasikornbank.

“Visa is proud that we have representation from a Thai financial institution in the pilot program,” said Visa Thailand Country Manager Suripong Tantiyanon in a statement. “Building on the enterprise blockchain technology, Visa B2B Connect is a new transaction platform designed for the exchange of high-value international payments between participating banks on behalf of their corporate clients. Managed by Visa end to end, Visa B2B Connect combines Visa’s core capabilities in security, governance and distributed ledger technology [DLT].”

Visa began testing the B2B payments solution earlier this year with UnionBank in the Philippines. Other banks across the Asia-Pacific region, including South Korea’s Shinhan Bank and Singapore’s United Overseas Bank, are also participating in the initiative, as is Commerce Bank in the U.S.

Thailand’s Kasikornbank said jumping into the technology is part of its broader support for innovation in cross-border payments.

“Kasikornbank is dedicated to delivering new and innovative solutions for our customers,” said the bank’s First Senior Vice President Siriporn Wongtriphop said in another statement. “Through our relationship with Visa, we are excited to be participating in the Visa B2B Connect pilot, which is the first step of a new paradigm in reimagining cross-border payment transactions. As the first mover in Thailand, we believe that KBank will be a leader in the industry, which benefits KBank’s enterprise clients in terms of more secured payment.”

In addition to the development of a blockchain-powered cross-border B2B payments solution, Visa recently expanded its focus on B2B payments through the acquisition of longtime partner Fraedom.

“They’ve been great in reporting and spend management, and in moving their solutions into digital,” said Kevin Phalen, Visa’s head of global business solutions, in an interview with Karen Webster in February about the acquisition. “We think we can accelerate that as an integrated solution.”