StanChart and DBS partner to develop blockchain technology
(21 December 2015 – Europe/Asia) UK based Standard Chartered and Singapore-based bank DBS have partnered to develop a distributed ledger for trade finance in Singapore.
Following internal testing between the two banks, they will start collaborating with other companies in 2016, Mr Shirish Wadivkar, head of payables, receivables & flow FX at Standard Chartered, and Ms Lum Yin Fong, DBS's global head of client management and implementation said in a call last week.
The collaboration is the latest development that sees banks investing into their own distributed ledgers, borrowing from the technology that underpins bitcoin, the blockchain or joining a group of others global banks in partnership such as R3.
The platform developed by Standard Chartered and DBS will allow the banks to transform invoices into digital assets with identities on a distributed, decentralised ledger. The new proof-of-concept shows that the innovation is likely to boost the trade finance industry – one traditionally swamped with paperwork due to the participation of distributors, suppliers, exporters and importers, insurers and more – with cost-cutting, increased transparency and lowering the margin of error.
In a statement, Fong said: “This could revolutionize and transform trade operations, enhancing risk mitigation and creating more efficient processes for both corporates and banks.”
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