22 global banks have joined the SWIFT blockchain PoC. The company wants to prove that its global payments innovation (gpi) service will help banks reconcile their international nostro accounts (accounts used to facilitate foreign exchange and trade transactions) in real time.
Among the new members are global financial behemoths such as JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds and Standard Chartered bank.
Wim Raymaekers, Head of Banking Markets and SWIFT gpi, SWIFT, said:
“Collaboration is the cornerstone of innovation. This new group of banks allows us to greatly extend the scope of multi-lateral testing of the blockchain application and thus add considerable weight to the findings. We warmly welcome the new banks and look forward to their insights.”
Together these banks will put SWIFT’s blockchain payments application through its paces. The gpi is designed to help banks overcome the monitoring and management issues that they face with regards to their nostro accounts.
Banks are not currently able to monitor their account positions in real time, because there is no intraday reporting coverage. SWIFT’s application provides banks with real-time liquidity data.
The results of the tests are due to be announced in September.
Account data privacy
The project leverages Hyperledger Fabric v1.0 and combines it with SWIFT’s own assets.  This helps ensure the privacy of the account information, by only allowing the account owner and the relevant banking partner to see it.
The PoC application uses a private permissioned blockchain in a closed group environment with user privileges and data access will also be strictly controlled.
Damien Vanderveken, Head of R&D, SWIFTLab and UX, SWIFT, said:
“The potential business benefits ensuing from the PoC are clear. If banks could manage their nostro account liquidity in real time, it would allow them to accurately gauge how much money is required in each account at any given point, ultimately enabling them to free up significant funds for other investments.”
Interested in hearing leading global brands discuss subjects like this in person? Find out more at the Blockchain Expo World Series, Global, Europe and North America.
