BLINC is BCB Group’s proprietary instant payment network offering fast, fee-free, reliable payments between all our clients.
BLINC solves the problem of traditional payment rails that are slow, inflexible and expensive. As a modern purpose-built infrastructure that delivers a payment and settlement network, BLINC is capable of moving assets of any amount 24/7/365 between users independent of the traditional banking hours.
The directory of clients on the BLINC network includes exchanges, market makers, lenders, funds, brokers and traders worldwide.
BLINC – it’s not just fast, it’s financial infrastructure reimagined.
Liquidity, and the free and rapid transfer of funds, is essential for efficient business operations and trading.
Delays and fees for transferring money are friction in the system, that cost time and money.
This, of course, is not news to anyone operating a company or who trades in financial markets, which is why it is remarkable that traditional payment networks, such as SWIFT, Europe’s SEPA, or the UK Faster Payments System, are still beset by limited operating hours, payment delays, transaction limits and sometimes fees.
BCB Group’s BLINC solution cuts through the costs and delays. Our proprietary technology, hand in hand with our ‘regulation first’ principles, means all BCB payments account customers can transfer fiat currency to each other with unparalleled efficiency.
The BLINC directory of BCB customers includes exchanges, market makers, lenders, funds, brokers and traders worldwide.
BLINC payments can be made:
- 24/7
- Fee-free
- With no limits on size of payment
- To any BCB customer anywhere in the world
As part of a standard BCB payments account, BLINC is naturally linked to our digital currency and assets capabilities. But as a pure fiat-to-fiat system, BLINC’s capabilities are a valuable tool for any organisation, whether or not they have any involvement in the digital assets sector.
Additionally, BLINC payments can be made in all leading fiat currencies, including: GBP, CHF, NZD, USD, EUR, SGD, AUD and JPY.
Overcoming the legacy
“Existing traditional payments systems have evolved through decades of technological implementation in the banking system. The result works but, as the saying goes, if you were setting out to design a payment system, you would not start from here.”
Most of us are familiar with the almost instant payments possible in our personal bank accounts, but such instant transfers are not possible when the sums of money are larger.
In the UK, the Faster Payments System regulation does not allow instant transfers of more than £1 million. In Europe’s SEPA, the limit is even lower at €100,000. Even when smaller sums are involved, cross-border payments can incur fees through some networks. Timing also becomes a factor, with each bank operating its own schedules and cutoff times for payments – request a transfer late in the afternoon and it might not begin processing until the following day.
Time zone differences between sending and receiving banks can add to the delay, and with time differences also comes exposure to financial market risk in FX rates.
The grit in the system of traditional payments stems from two sources. The first is legacy banking technology. Banking systems that were once the leading edge of technology are now creaking museum pieces that hamper rather than facilitate the payments network.
The second is regulation, which rather than being built into systems at the outset, are naturally an add-on that creates further friction in the system. This is not to decry regulation – at BCB we pride ourselves on our authorisations from leading regulators and take a ‘regulation first’ approach. The difference is that all our products and solutions, including BLINC, are created to work with regulation rather than to rub up against it.
Compliance and technology hand-in-hand
BLINC is possible because we have built our technology stack and our compliance frameworks together – each strengthens the other rather than creating a clash.
At the same time, as a crypto-native company we have had to design our payments systems from scratch, meaning they have been designed without the hurdles that beset legacy banking systems. Our onboarding process is streamlined but rigorous, meaning that anti-money laundering checks have already taken place. This means we have confidence in our clients, and they can have confidence in each other.
With those regulatory issues addressed at the very outset, it is possible to create a technology system that allows instant transfers without jumping through regulatory hoops for each transaction. BLINC comes as a standard feature for all our payments account customers, meaning they can transfer fiat currency between each other – at no cost, 24/7 and with absolutely no limits on the sums involved.
How our customers are using BLINC
Many households operate a bills account, setting aside a certain amount of income each month to pay regular outgoings and perhaps adding a little extra for those inevitable unknowns.
BLINC can be used in exactly the same way. BLINC is a separate basket that sits alongside your core payments account. Transferring money into BLINC is not immediate, but once money is there it can be sent to any other BCB customer instantly. Many of our clients know their typical regular outgoings to other BCB customers and so hold appropriate funds in their BLINC basket, enabling those payments to be made instantly when they are due. Others may have fewer regular transactions, so they simply hold sums in their BLINC basket to enable payments to be made instantly whenever needed.
All BLINC users enjoy the key benefits of being able to receive payments faster, thus improving their cash flow and liquidity and ensuring they can deliver payments instantly to other BCB clients, building better business relationships.
We have created a handy guide – download here
