Oftentimes, users looking to send money abroad will struggle to do so due to costs. This is especially the case when small transactions are made. To ensure costs are no longer a barrier to move money, Crown Agents Bank (CAB), the B corp bank, and Visa, the payments giant, have announced a new collaboration.
The ‘last mile’ is the term given for the final stage in the payment process – often the most complex of all. With this new collaboration, Visa will enable CAB customers to move lower-value payments across emerging markets more cost-effectively. This will allow payments to be settled directly into an eligible card, account or wallet of that customer’s choosing. Costs will be reduced as a result of the CAB network connecting via API with Visa Direct.
For example, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) could more easily disburse funds and aid directly to recipients, remittance companies could more efficiently move money for their customers across hard-to-reach markets and businesses could reduce the cost of making smaller value payments to creators and freelancers. Making this type of low-value payment across emerging markets has historically been challenging due to the additional costs incurred in jurisdictions regulators consider higher risk.
Neeraj Kapur, chief executive officer of CAB
Neeraj Kapur, chief executive officer of CAB said: “This collaboration is hugely significant for our clients. Our combined capabilities and expertise mean we’re able to reduce the cost and friction associated with moving money across hard-to-reach markets: getting more funds delivered more efficiently to those who need it the most”.
Building on success
CAB is a UK-regulated bank specialising in FX and cross-border payments for hard-to-reach markets, covering 100+ currencies across 700+ currency pairs. Visa has historically used CAB to provide FX liquidity in the settlement of high-value payments – such as bank-to-bank transfers, or payments between large institutions – in certain jurisdictions.
Rajiv Garodia, head of Visa government solutions
The integration will enable the streamlined handling of high volumes of small transactions across the Visa Direct network. Visa Direct provides reach to more than 8.5 billion endpoints including accounts, digital wallets and eligible cards across more than 190 countries and territories.
Rajiv Garodia, head of Visa government solutions said: “Visa’s mission is to be the best way to pay and be paid – and that goes for everyone. It’s as true for your everyday consumer card payment as it is for paying remittances to a family member abroad, or for an NGO sending humanitarian aid to someone in need. This collaboration with Crown Agents Bank is an important step towards us achieving that mission.”
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