Visa is readying its blockchain-based digital identity system for cross-border payments for launch in the first quarter of 2019, according to a press release published October 21. The system, dubbed Visa B2B Connect, will provide a blockchain-based digital identity solution for financial institutions to securely process cross-border payments. The system reportedly tokenizes sensitive business data – such as banking details and account numbers – granting them a unique cryptographic identifier that will be used for transactions on the platform. Kevin Phalen, global head at Visa Business Solutions, suggests that the system will help with fraud: “B2B Connect’s digital identity greatly …

On October 12, Finance Magnates reported that payment giants Mastercard and VISA will both soon group cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) jurisdictions in a new “high risk” category. What are the consequences for those ‘high risk’ merchants? According to the publication’s undisclosed sources, the ban will be applied to brokers who operate “from unregulated or loosely regulated environments,” and therefore have no license that would show that proper due diligence has been applied to their business. The action reportedly deals with forex, binary, cryptos, and ICOs. More specifically, the alleged move seems to target non-EU countries “in the Balkans, …

Cryptocurrency markets could increase ten times over from 2020, blockchain investment firm and hedge fund Pantera Capital’s co-CIO told Bloomberg Tuesday, Oct. 16. Speaking in an interview, co-CIO Joey Krug said that scalability improvements for Bitcoin (BTC) were essential to spark a shift in the deflated prices seen throughout this year. He told the network: “These are all markets, and so if you don’t have scalability, you don’t have market makers.” The comments came days after new developments on the institutional trading side of Bitcoin markets, with Fidelity Investments revealing it was testing a regulated custody solution for investors and …

Payment giants MasterCard and VISA will soon group cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) jurisdictions in a new “high risk” category, financial trading news site Finance Magnates reported Friday, October 12. According to the Broker Complaint Registry, some details of the shortly upcoming classification by MasterCard had already become public in May of this year. The registry notes that binary options, CFDs, forex, cryptocurrency options, and ICOs will fall under a new category of “High-Risk Securities Merchants” starting on Oct. 12, 2018, and will be subject to additional monitoring. According to Finance Magnates, the grouping means that chargebacks could now …

Thailand’s fourth largest bank, Kasikornbank, has recently joined the blockchain-based Visa B2B Connect program for cross-border payments, local newspaper The Nation reported Thursday, September 20. According to The Nation, Kasikornbank is the “first” bank in the country to use the technology, setting the stage for a more widespread use of blockchain in the country’s banking sector. Suripong Tantiyanon, Visa’s country manager in Thailand, expressed his opinion on the partnership, noting that Visa B2B will support developments in “security, governance, and distributed ledger technology.” According to senior vice president for Kasikornbank Siriporn Wongtriphop, using blockchain for international payments will help his …

The issue of transition to decentralised payment networks was raised again last week. On June 1, Visa, which usually processes more than 150 mln transactions daily, suddenly failed. Millions of people in the UK and Europe were unable to pay for goods or services, and Visa payments were also disrupted for US residents. Current queues at Tesco cash machines in MK. Suspect this is a common scene across the U.K. right now 😬 #visadown pic.twitter.com/YunwFA8lYz — David Pride (@davejavupride) June 1, 2018 Several hours later, the problem was solved, but the mere fact of widespread failure indicated the need for …

Visa has said that their card payments are experiencing disruptions across Britain and Europe, the BBC reports today, June 1. Visa, which handles over 150 mln transactions a day, tweeted about the service disruption, noting that they will keep updating as they resolve the situation: We are currently experiencing a service disruption which is preventing some Visa transactions in Europe from being processed. We are investigating the cause and working as quickly as possible to resolve the situation. We will keep you updated. — Visa UK (@VisaUK) June 1, 2018 In comparison, the Bitcoin’s (BTC) decentralized network has been functional …

The former head of Visa in the UK and Ireland has joined a startup bringing crypto to consumer payments, Business Insider NL reports today, May 19. Marc O’Brien, who worked for Visa between 2008 and 2014, has recently joined crypto consumer payment startup Crypterium, which aims to make it possible to spend crypto in everyday situations, Business Insider reports. Speaking on the importance of crypto adoption as a medium of exchange, O’Brien told Business Insider: “The idea is that cryptocurrency is actually quite difficult today to use as an everyday method of payment. If you were to go to an …

Mainstream users require a debit card in order to make Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies a part of their daily lives. What is the result of this year and what is the future of the Bitcoin debit card market in 2016 & 2017? Cointelegraph interviewed Ted Rogers, the president of XAPO, one of the world leading companies issuing Bitcoin debit cards. Cointelegraph: There are dozens of Bitcoin debit cards in the world. Are there any statistics about this market, that are gathered by any association? How can we know, who the leaders are in this market? Ted Rogers: Unfortunately, no one …

Visa has a dedicated team in London looking at specific use cases involving blockchain technology but argues that bitcoin won't reach mainstream acceptance "unless there is trust in the system," according to Jonathan Vaux, executive director of innovation partnerships at Visa Europe. Speaking to the International Business Times at MoneyConf in Belfast, Vaux shared his firm's blockchain strategy, and said that his company was "certainly looking at applications involving blockchain." "What can you do with this? We know there's a peer-to-peer transaction network happening but we don't see it scaling unless there is trust in the system," Vaux said. He …