Blockchain-based payment networks are set to drive a seven per cent increase in business-to-business (B2B) cross-border transactions over the next four years, from 13.5 billion in 2019 to 14.8 billion processed by 2023.

This is according to market analysis from Juniper Research, which suggested international payments will become faster, cheaper and less complex. The digitalisation of cross-border payment networks, aligned with the use of cloud-based tools, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and blockchain, will enable the replacement of bilateral networks with multilateral models.

Most international B2B transactions are still made via traditional, bilateral methods due to legacy infrastructure, which results in slow, non-traceable and expensive transactions. The lack of transparency inherent in these systems allows intermediate banks and non-banking institutions to charge high exchange rates and additional fees.

As blockchain affords complete traceability of transactions, its introduction would increase transparency, improve standardisation and reduce errors, stated Juniper.

Research author Maite Bezerra remarked: “Future growth in B2B cross-border transactions will be driven by innovative corporate payment solutions that make transparency central to their models, following the example set by disruptive vendors in the consumer money transfer market.”

Juniper Research assessed 12 non-banking payment providers; comparing their product features, breadth of solutions and revenues, as well as overall network strength. The research ranked the five leading B2B payment vendors as follows: Money Corp, TorFX, TransferMate, OFX and Currencies Direct.

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