With nine-tenths of the world’s central banks pursuing digital currency projects, private sector expertise and buy-in will be crucial to their success, said WadzPay CEO Anish Jain. told PYMNTS in the December issue of “Blockchain Payment Tracker.”
Anish JainCEO of blockchain-based payments ecosystem Wadz Pay,To tell PYMNTS How blockchain innovation and convergence with established systems are sparking the next revolution in the payments industry.
—
According to WadzPay CEO Anish Jain, innovation is best supported by a solid foundation of tradition. With more than 15 years of experience at Mastercard and American Express, Jain believes blockchain will help the payments industry by enabling faster payments, better security, and a lower-cost alternative that reduces barriers to financial inclusion. We recognized early on the potential for revolution. But Rome wasn’t built in a day and an innovative payment system must be interoperable with current payment systems.
“We are trying to use [blockchain’s benefits] With the technology we are building,” he said. “What we are enabling at the same time is not shaking up the entire boat or the entire payments ecosystem.”
Founded in Singapore in 2018, WadzPay works with international payment processors and banks to enable digital and asset-based transaction processing and payments. Jain explains that interoperability has two components. WadzPay will connect to the banking mainframe ecosystem and become the default blockchain provider. This allows financial institutions (FIs) to take advantage of blockchain technology that exists now or may emerge in the future. The other interoperability it enables is between blockchains. The WadzPay chain has the ability to jump between different blockchain protocols and process transactions based on the needs of a particular her FI or customer.
“The great thing about the WadzPay ecosystem is that we are not connecting to just one bank or one market. It is a global system and also provides access to different markets.”
That access is where WadzPay is gaining momentum in multiple markets. Jain said central banks tend not to trust private institutions, but they are learning rapidly. WadzPay has established its roots through various programs with public authorities, commercial banks, payment service providers and large corporations, and the discussions are encouraging. The new regulatory framework is also helping. Jain said WadzPay drives regulation, and where regulation is on the rise, it helps drive business forward.
“We are regulated in certain markets through our central bank, which also gives us more credibility when working with public authorities,” he said. “No regulation” is always bad.create uncertainty [and] The feeling of ‘I don’t know what to do’
As a result of this cooperation, WadzPay’s presence will be strong not only in the Middle East and Africa, but also in Asia, where it plays a leading regulatory role in blockchain. According to Jain, things are already changing.
“When we launched our operations in the Middle East last year, our early customers were like, ‘Why are you here? “Because this is very new. This is exotic. But today, the market has changed and we are becoming indispensable. ”
Jain said one of the benefits of being an industry trailblazer is that it gives you insight into how the market will move in the future. Global adoption of blockchain looks increasingly possible.
“As a company, we are very important in the Middle East, Africa and Asia,” he said. “Our 2023 goal is to make it more relevant in the Western Hemisphere. Blockchain is a beautiful technology and we hope to see more mainstream adoption.”
