But the consumer credit card model offers some valuable lessons. It allows spontaneous transactions without the need for individual buyers and sellers to know and trust one another. No business equivalent of the consumer model exists on a wide-scale basis. Today, each time a company seeks a new business partner, it must qualify the buyer or seller, check their credit, negotiate terms, set up accounts payable and receivable, and incur the costs of order-taking, invoicing, payment, and collection. This process is costly.
Businesses require a method similar to the consumer credit model, but scaled-up and fortified.
A trusted intermediary would be responsible for qualifying business buyers and sellers, invoicing, and collecting payments. Transactions can then occur spontaneously between any two parties. The cost of initiating business is reduced, allowing a company to broaden its group of prospective partners. Payments can be made electronically through the intermediary, reducing the cost of payment and collection. The TradeVPI software family allows secure, private communication, enabling businesses to establish their own virtual private Internets.