Visa Targets $200 Trillion B2B Payments Market with Digitization Efforts

The B2B payments market in South Korea is lagging behind, with only 15% of transactions using cards and 70% still being made by bank transfer. According to Christopher Newkirk, president of Visa's Commercial and Money Movement Solutions unit, this inefficiency persists despite the country having one of the world's most advanced digital economies.

Newkirk attributed the slow adoption of card usage in B2B payments to traditional practices that are hard to change. In a survey of South Korean mid-sized companies, only 15% said they use cards for B2B payments, with another 21% citing entrenched bank-transfer practices as the reason.

Visa is working to digitize payment processes through corporate cards, virtual cards, and its B2B Connect network. The company also launched the Visa Commercial Solutions Hub in 2024, which allows financial institutions and companies to process payments through a single login.