Visa and US Bank, the lead bank of US Bancorp, have created a joint venture – Syncada. It provides a business-to-business (B2B) network for corporations and governments to process and track invoices, make and receive payments around the world, and have payables or receivables financed through local and global financial institutions.
The venture is expected to allow financial institutions of all sizes to offer their commercial clients standardized B2B invoice processing, financing and payment services across a variety of payment types and local currencies. Financial institutions can also build transaction and credit-based treasury management business by offering the network’s services to buyer and supplier clients.
Visa has said that Syncada is unlike any other network in that it combines Visa’s experience in delivering commercial payment services to financial institutions and managing a multi-bank network with US Bank’s PowerTrack (an automated B2B e-invoicing, payment processing and trade finance network).
As part of the joint venture, Visa has made a capital investment in Syncada and is expected to provide its experience in building and managing a multi-bank network, as well as marketing, sales and risk management support. US Bank contributed assets – including its technology platform and certain personnel – and is expected to provide expertise in automating general payables/receivables spend, in addition to focused expertise in multiple spend categories, including freight, utility, telecom and global trade payments.
Richard Davis, chairman, president and CEO of US Bancorp, said: “PowerTrack has been key to our success in payments, and in attracting new commercial banking clients. Taking what we built in PowerTrack, combining it with Visa’s deep experience in building a multi-bank network and transforming it into Syncada will enable the network to grow by expanding the offering to new partners around the globe. We’re proud to be an investor in Syncada, to be its first customer, and to continue to serve our US Bank clients through the new entity.”
