Standard Chartered today announced that it has joined Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral payments network enabling faster and frictionless cross-border account-to-account payments for its corporate customers.
Launching for Standard Chartered Singapore customers for the first time with more entities to be added to the network in the coming months, the solution will expand and enhance the Bank’s existing suite of payment solutions with a focus on facilitating faster and more cost-effective business transfers. business (B2B) cross-border transactions.
Through application programming interface (API) connectivity between Standard Chartered and the Visa B2B Connect network, transactions will be routed directly to Visa for further processing, removing multiple intermediaries and associated costs and delays. Built on Visa’s extensive global network, Visa B2B Connect offers multilateral connectivity to all network members through a single connection with transparent schedules and costs, offering predictability and cost efficiency. These capabilities help meet the needs of companies of all sizes who are actively looking for ways to achieve faster, safer and more efficient cross-border payments.
Philip Panaino, Global Head of Cash at Standard Chartered, said:
“We are delighted to leverage our existing partnership with Visa to bring this innovative and future-ready cross-border payment network to our customers. We will join as a participating bank and as a new Visa settlement partner for a set of currencies. In today’s increasingly interconnected world, both companies and payment networks are constantly looking for solutions and partners that can help them simplify cross-border transactions and improve operational efficiency, without compromising security. Our commitment to the Visa B2B Connect network – both as a participant and as a settlement bank – is yet another way we add value to the wider ecosystem as we support companies on their payments journey.”
“Visa is committed to modernizing cross-border payments around the world and partnering with Standard Chartered will expand our network even further,” said Ben Ellis, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Visa B2B Connect at Visa. “We are excited to work with Standard Chartered to simplify and speed up transactions for their customers, cutting out middlemen and reducing costs for a more efficient and secure way to transfer money worldwide.”
The Bank will also act as one of Visa’s settlement partners within the network, and in this capacity, facilitate payment flows, including settlement accounts, fund movement and foreign exchange capabilities for Visa. In addition to providing Visa with the ability to extend additional currencies and settlement locations to participating banks, the API solution offered by Standard Chartered further supports network design to allow network participants to benefit from transparency of their payment status at any time, facilitating seamless payment and automatic reconciliation.
Standard Chartered is currently the settlement bank for Visa B2B Connect in the UAE and is also a new settlement bank for Singapore, with additional plans underway to include the United States. The strength of the Bank’s foreign exchange liquidity capabilities and market presence also enables payments initiated in Singapore Dollars (SGD) and United Arab Emirates Dirhams (AED) or other settlement currencies to be delivered in up to 100 currencies, further strengthening the network and the Visa customer experience.