American Express Signs Blockchain Agreement
(23 July 2018 - United Kingdom) American Express (AMEX) has proceeded with the latest in a series of blockchain agreements that it is seeking to position the group as the leader in new blockchain enabled transaction technology.
The company filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office in early July for a blockchain-based proof of payment technology. The patent allows AMEX to utilise blockchain to execute payments and receive a merchant identifier using the same secure, encrypted technology that would store the information on the same device. Among incumbent market leaders many of the most innovative companies are leveraging their large customer sets to incorporate this technology into their product and service offerings, allowing customers to engage in transactions that would otherwise be unattainable for both financial institutions and customers.
Traditional banks and other financial institutions are allocating significant resources to compete in an environment where they are faced with enormous scrutiny from government regulators looking to mitigate risk. At the same time they are facing new competition from nimble Fintech entrants. Following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis regulators have endorsed a wide range of reforms. New technologies have exposed underbanked customers to faster and more responsive entities, in particular time poor small businesses who can better engage and react to financial requirements with technologies that use Application Program Interfaces (APIs) to carry out payments, transaction tracking, processing and other types of financial transactions with speed and simplicity.
In further new release API news, Santander UK signed an agreement in June with Infosys Finacle to enable commercial clients access to a platform that traverses accounts and is compatible on any device. Using API technology, customers can integrate Santander’s cash management solutions into existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Traditional bank incumbents are increasingly embracing APIs to partner with new FinTech companies in an effort to speed the path to both faster transaction capabilities and rapid authentication of identity. Newly released data reveals that 87 percent of banks report having a clear API development strategy, while during the month of June more than US$200 million was raised by B2B startups in venture capital investment rounds. 11 percent of B2B transactions are made using credit cards and blockchain will have 10 percent share of projected global GDP by the year 2027. The US banking sector is demonstrating uneven financial performance in the recent quarter, while investor interest continues to see new disruptive engines in the FinTech sector. As banks streamline legacy costs and embrace mobile and new payment systems, consumers can expect to see additional advances in API, blockchain and legacy players embracing disruptive technologies.
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