IBM Launches Blockchain Pilot Project for Bank Guarantee Processes
The digitalization of processes will reduce the risk of fraud, reduce the potential for errors and increase transparency and security for users
The technological giant IBM partnered with four Australian financial services companies to launch a pilot plan that consists of a blockchain-based platform. The project seeks to streamline the bank guarantee process.
The information was announced recently through a press release. The statement details that the name of the project is Lygon and that it is backed by IBM, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Commonwealth Bank, the real estate operator Scentre Group, and Australia’s first bank, Westpac.
Regarding other details of the plan, it is known that the pilot project is scheduled to run for eight weeks. A group of retail customers will test the product. The test will allow to evaluate the application of the project in reality, as well as to know what would be the necessary modifications and determine the use of the platform.
The objective of the platform is to digitize the issuance and administration of bank guarantees in the retail property leasing sector.
Avoiding Frauds
The digitalization of processes will reduce the risk of fraud, reduce the potential for errors and increase transparency and security, according to those who participate in the new IBM blockchain project.
“We have created a platform based on blockchain to digitize the banking guarantee ecosystem. The pilot will test the online transactions using a distributed registry to prove that the technology is commercially viable. It’s a great example of digital transformation that refines the customer experience”, Didier Van Not, General Manager of Corporate and Institutional Banking at Westpac said.
IBM has launched different blockchain business offerings to date, demonstrating its interest in generating more and more developments based on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).
Last month, CIP, a Brazilian banking and financial infrastructure facilitator, officially launched its blockchain ID platform, thanks to a partnership with IBM and using Hyperledger Fabric. The goal of this project is to authenticate and verify digital signatures using mobile devices.
The identity solution, called Device ID will have the participation of nine banks and would be integrated into Brazil’s national compensation system, the Brazilian Payment System (SPB).
In March of this year, five Japanese banks worked together to implement a financial services infrastructure based on IBM’s distributed registration technology.
Plans of Expansion
Once the pilot program is completed, Lygon plans to expand the range of digitized bank guarantees it supports and start offering them to other industries.
In Thailand, the technology giant IBM announced, together with the Kasikorn Bank Public Company Limited (KBank), the launch of a new guarantee letter network based on IBM blockchain products.
The new IBM’s innovation in the financial sector will register guarantees in the chain of blocks.
The implications of this pilot project are greater than they seem at first glance, given that it is the first steps of blockchain technology in the modification and streamlining of traditional finance processes, which would make the dream of incorporating the digital chain to day-to-day transactions.
By María Rodríguez