OpenWay and Visa partner to help banks roll out payment capabilities faster

OpenWay, a digital payments software provider, has partnered with Visa to streamline how financial institutions in Asia Pacific launch selected payment capabilities, according to a report published by Electronic Payments International. The firms said the effort is designed to reduce friction in implementation so banks can move from planning to rollout more efficiently.

The companies said the collaboration builds on Visa initiatives that are already supported on OpenWay’s Way4 platform. Way4 is described as a single software environment that combines data and technical services across several payment functions, including card issuing, digital wallets, merchant acquiring, and real-time payments. OpenWay said banks, processors, and fintech partners can deploy Way4 in different ways, including on premises, in the cloud, as dedicated SaaS, or through hybrid models.

While Visa and OpenWay did not specify which institutions or which particular deployments are included in the near-term plan, the report points to Visa capabilities that Way4 already supports. Those include Visa Flexible Credential, which allows cardholders to access multiple funding sources through a single credential, and Visa Fleet 2.0, which supports fleet-related payment use cases. The underlying message is that banks looking to introduce new propositions may be able to reuse platform capabilities rather than build separate systems for each feature.

OpenWay and Visa said the scope of work centers on supporting faster launches while addressing integration requirements and operational considerations. They also described earlier alignment on Visa product requirements and implementation frameworks as a way to simplify readiness for future deployments across Asia Pacific and, potentially, other markets.

In comments attributed to OpenWay’s Asia Pacific managing director Rudy Gunawan, the company framed the partnership around the region’s pace of payment innovation and banks’ demand for quicker time-to-market for new customer offers. Gunawan said the collaboration strengthens OpenWay’s ability to support financial institutions as they deliver new propositions more efficiently.

Industry-wise, partnerships between payment networks and technology vendors often matter because the real cost of launching payment features tends to be in integration and ongoing operations, not in the headline “feature” itself. In that context, a platform that supports multiple payment types and deployments, like Way4, can serve as a way for banks and processors to reduce project fragmentation, especially when they are introducing new wallet, real-time, or credential-based capabilities.

Still, several specifics remain unclear from the published report. Visa and OpenWay did not disclose timelines for bank rollouts, the number of participating financial institutions, contract values, or whether the collaboration includes training, certification, or shared deployment services. The announcement also does not indicate how success will be measured, beyond the general goal of improving implementation efficiency and readiness.

For the next phase, market watchers will likely look for evidence that banks in Asia Pacific are using the partnership to speed approvals and go-lives for the supported Visa capabilities. Additional disclosures could also reveal whether the alignment on requirements extends beyond the named initiatives and whether Way4’s deployment models are being used to reduce time-to-integration for particular types of banks and processors.