SWIFT adds 22 banks to the trail of its Blockchain settlement system @BlockRush

SWIFT is a well know global settlement communication platform owned and used by several of the world's tops banks. In January SWIFT announced it was investigating the use of Blockchain for its financial communication systems.

Recently SWIFT has been implementing a new Blockchain protocol called a "proof of concept"(PoC) into its SWIFT gpi (global payments innovation) service; the PoC system is based on the Fabric Blockchain implementation developed by the Linux Foundation-backed Hyperledger project.

The new system is hoped to be used to help operate nestro accounts more efficiently in real time; nestro accounts are a special type of bank accounts used by banks to facilitate cross border transactions. SWIFT hopes its new system will become the standards for cross border payments, and it has the power to do so since its services are already used by most banks.

SWIFT has announced that 22 new banks which were not a part of the founding members of the PoC last year will be added to take part in trails of its Blockchain powered SWIFT gpi platform. SWIFT believes the inclusion of independent banks from across different continents will allow it to validate its SWIFT gpi system in terms of scaling and feasibility.

According to Wim Raymaekers, Head of Banking Markets and SWIFT gpi at SWIFT;

“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.”

The new banks to be participating in the trail include: ABN AMRO Bank, ABSA Bank, BBVA, Banco Santander, China Construction Bank, China Minsheng Banking, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Erste Group Bank, FirstRand Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Lloyds Bank, Mashreq bank, Nedbank, Rabobank, Société Générale, Standard Bank of South Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, UniCredit and Westpac Banking Corporation.

The trail of the PoC powered SWIFT gpi will be in this summer and results would be published in September and presented at Sibos in Toronto in October.

Steemian talk:

• What do you think of the new Blockchain powered gpi by SWIFT?
• What do you think of the participation of the Chinese banks?

Let us know your opinion by commenting below.

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