Block chain technology, the distributed value transfer system, is starting to be used in all sorts of ways. In global payment systems, Align Commerce are using it to dramatically reduce the cost of cross-currency payments with the block chain at the centre of their global clearing system, see figure below.

Digital Currency Processing Model

Source & Copyright©2015 - Align Commerce 

The process works as follows:

1. payer sends a payment to the local Align Commerce bank member
2. Align Commerce send the fiat currency payment, e.g. EUR, to a bitcoin exchange who convert the currency into Bitcoins which is the ‘container’ for the payment
3. Align Commerce submit the  bitcoin to the receiving currency local Bitcoin exchange and converts to the local fiat currency e.g. USD
4. Align Commerce deposit the converted amount into their account at their receiving partner bank
5. Align Commerce make payment (less the 1.9% cross currency fee) to the payee’s account through the local clearing to the payee’s account.

The advantages of this approach are:

• there is no central clearing and conversion
• costs are minimized
• real-time reporting and tracking: both the payer and payee have the same view of the real-time status of their invoice/payment in the Tracking Dashboard, see figure below. Users are able to track their payments like parcels on Fedex. 

Real Time Reporting & Tracking

Source & Copyright©2015 - Align Commerce 

Align Commerce charges

Align Commerce only charge a 1.9% FX currency conversion fee. There are no initiation or a receipt fees. 

The 1.9% currency conversion fee is paid by the party that want to execute the foreign exchange to match the amount on the invoice.

Align Commerce B2B invoicing

Align Commerce enables users to map the payment to the invoice to enable complete reconciliation, by sending automated e-mail invoices to partners, clients or any third party. And/or accept incoming payments in your local currency, see figure below.

Source & Copyright©2015 - Align Commerce 

Future Align Commerce development

The Align Commerce services is in private beta and caters to clients ranging from outsourcing shops, tech companies, service providers, exporters and importers. Supported currencies include USD, EURO, PHP and SGD. Development is being driven by customer demand, the next currency and countries to be onboarded to the Align Commerce service will be CAD, HKG and CNY, as they strive to achieve their aim of simplifying and reducing the cost of cross-currency payments world-wide. 

---

CTMfile take: This could be a paradigm shift in making cross-currency payments. Certainly the payment tracking functionality is what every corporate treasurer has been dreaming of for many years. Now all Align Commerce have to do is to achieve global scale.