Visa, Inc. wants a part of the future in fintech payment solutions with an announcement it is working on a proof-of-concept for a Blockchain-based remittance service.

Working with distributed ledger specialist Epiphyte Ltd. through its Visa Europe Collab innovation hub, the project is looking to use the Blockchain to power an improved remittance service for both the sender and receiver of payments in terms of fees, speed and ease of use.

The project currently consists of creating a proof of concept to run through a series of simulations within a test environment as an alternative to conventional remittance processing.

“By combining our experience as the largest payments network in the world, with Epiphyte’s knowledge of the distributed ledger, we’re hoping we can identify ways to improve the experience and better understand how these findings might be applied to remittance processes in the future,” Visa Europe Collab Innovation Partner – Emerging Payments Jon Downing said in a post explaining what they were doing.

“We’re now about halfway through the 100-day process and will share more news here about this exciting project in due course,” he said.

Epiphyte Chief Executive Officer Edan Yago added in a separate statement that “international remittances are vital for millions of families across the world, but they can be expensive, cumbersome and slow. We believe that Blockchain technology has the potential to change all of that, but we need to find a way of making that technology work for the mainstream financial world….by combining Visa’s experience as the largest payments network in the world with our experience of the distributed ledger we’re hoping we can work together to reshape this sector for the better.”

The future

Although the final reviews for 2015 have yet to be written it could be said already that the year that was has become the year of the Blockchain, and Visa Europe’s exploration of the distributed ledger that is best known for powering Bitcoin is yet more topping on the cake for those who believe that Blockchain can and will revolutionize the global financial industry.

With a proof-of-concept test it’s still clearly early days for Visa when it comes to perhaps one day implementing a Blockchain based payment system for its own uses, but it’s definitely a start, and confirmation from one of the world’s largest financial services providers that Blockchain may have opportunities as a replacement for its current systems.

The proof of concept will continue over the next two months with Visa Europe Collab promising to publish the results once the testing is complete.

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