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75 Of World's Biggest Banks Join New Blockchain Project Run By JPMorgan

11:54, 27th September 2018
Simon Edmunds
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JPMorgan has just signed up 75 banks to test a blockchain-based payments project the bank set up last year.

This week, the Financial Times reported that some of the “world’s biggest banks”, including Société Générale and Santander have now joined the Interbank Information Network (IIN).

First piloted in October 2017, the IIN uses blockchain technology to reduce the time correspondent banks currently spend responding to compliance and other data-related inquiries that cause delays.

It does this by giving banks access to a mutually-accessible ledger that allows them to quickly resolve issues such as missing data or compliance checks that can delay payments for weeks.

JPMorgan’s Global Head of Treasury Services Takis Georgakopoulos said: “We’ve been actively exploring how emerging technologies such as blockchain, AI, and an enhanced digital experience can be deployed in our Treasury Services business to better serve our clients’ ever changing needs.

“We will lead the market with the rollout of a robust pipeline of innovations over the coming months, beginning with the launch of IIN.”

The expanded test of JPMorgan’s new payment project represents the regulated banking industry’s largest application of blockchain technology to date.

Speaking to Vox Markets about the significance of the news, cryptocurrency & blockchain expert Glen Goodman aka The Shares Guy said: “This is great PR for all blockchain projects. If the biggest banks can successfully use the technology, that signals to the rest of the business world that blockchain is a force to be reckoned with and is here to stay.

“Some of the big banks are also using Ripple's blockchain technology to develop better payment systems. It seems there are several similar projects going on within the banking industry simultaneously. It will be interesting to see which (if any) of these internal projects become dominant.”

JPMorgan's technology has already been in testing over the past 11 months by the Royal Bank of Canada and ANZ, and now the investment bank is expanding the project.

The network of 75 banks - see the full list here - will facilitate global cross-border payments in every major market, including Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The Financial Times said the banks expect to put around 14,500 US dollar-denominated payments through the network every day.

IIN is powered by Quorum, a permissioned-variant of the Ethereum blockchain that has been developed by JPMorgan.

Toby Hall, the CEO of Minds + Machines Group (MMX) FOLLOW, a top-level domain company that is creating an Ethereum blockchain extension, said: “Over $2.1bn has been invested in blockchain and none of that has to do with the crypto market, it’s about absolutely innovating chains and how industries work, and this is a classic example of that.

“And while the JPMorgan project is obviously an inter-banking system, as and when projects come to interact with the end user, having a naming convention that people feel comfortable with, rather than these exceptionally long strings and hashes, is something that only helps to allow the technology to be integrated into the everyday.

“The news also demonstrates why 68% of tech directors at major corporations believe they will lose competitive advantage by not developing or staying abreast of blockchain technology.”

Want to invest in blockchain? Check out the AIM Blockchain companies you should be following here.

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The information, investment views and recommendations in this article are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engaging in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the writer but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. Vox Markets may receive payment from companies mentioned for enhanced profiling or publication presence. The writer may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.

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