Visa Direct is the payments distribution network of Visa and it has significant plans to expand. This week I caught up with Ruben Salazar, Global Head of Visa Direct, to find out how it differentiates itself from competitors – and what’s next for the division.

You can read my full conversation with Ruben in Forbes, but some highlights:

• The ultimate goal of Visa Direct is to become “the de facto most efficient, secure money movement network on Earth”.
• Visa is focusing on network quality to ensure user experience, and is achieving this through similar mandatory standards to those found in its card payment network.
• Sending to cards and bank accounts (post the Earthport acquisition) has been a key focus. Now Visa Direct is increasingly focusing on multi disbursement, enabling payouts to other types such as wallets. As part of this, the company is focused on connecting to all the payout points in a market, not just its own.
• Visa Direct is adding capabilities in part through partnerships, contributing to a wider trend of companies both partnering and competing with each other.
• The company has also engaged in a number of M&A deals, including YellowPepper, Earthport, Currencycloud and Tink, to add capabilities (the latter two pending regulatory approval). It continues to look for further opportunities, with technologies that either close a gap or provide a competitive advantage.
• Looking to the future, Ruben sees areas such as the gig economy as driving the change in the needs of payroll systems towards a more on-demand, off-cycle approach.
• He also sees crypto as key to Visa Direct’s future, arguing that it “will need a bridge” and that’s something Visa can provide.

Read my full interview with Ruben in Forbes

Daniel Webber

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Daniel is Founder and CEO at FXC Intelligence. Daniel is a leading influencer in the global payments space internationally. He is frequently invited to speak at industry conferences and provide insights and data on the sector. Daniel is widely quoted across the sector including in The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Daniel is also a contributor for Forbes.com. FXC Intelligence's weekly industry newsletter is the most widely read in the international payments market.