Visa Incubator to Test Blockchain for Interbank Payments

Visa’s London-based innovation lab has announced its latest blockchain trial will focus on interbank payments.

Visa Europe Collab

revealed today it has partnered with Toronto-based BTL Group to explore how the startup’s interbank settlement system can leverage blockchain and smart contracts to streamline domestic and cross-border payments between banks.

In statements, Hendrik Kleinsmiede, co-founder of Visa Europe Collab, said the two partners are now inviting European banks to participate in trials that would see them using the emerging technology for live payments to better explore its potential.

Kleinsmiede said:

"We’ll work closely together on the development and implementation of the PoC, ensuring that all participants come away with new knowledge and insight into the role that the blockchain could play in interbank settlements in the future.”

According to Financial Times, the partners will seek to conclude the project within 100 days.

The trial is the latest that finds Visa Europe Collab exploring blockchain. In July, the firm announced a micropayments trial with bitcoin startup SatoshiPay, a move that followed its initial work on remittances with blockchain firm Epiphyte in 2015.

One of the more novel proofs-of-concept to yet emerge, Visa Europe Collab’s work on this project found it exploring how blockchains could be used to extend the reach of traditional payment networks in developing countries.

For more on that 2015 trial, read our full report.

Image via Consensus 2016

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