Wells Fargo Develops Blockchain Banking Prototype

Wells Fargo, ANZ and Swift have completed a prototype that envisions how blockchain play a role in correspondent banking.

The three firms outlined the major prongs of new technology they developed in a recent blog post, outlining the development of what they described as a platform that could come to "improve the efficiency and speed of cross-border correspondent banking payment reconciliation and settlement".

The prototype allows two banks to reconcile payments sent via Swift with one another, using a distributed ledger to offer a real-time transaction log.

Judd Holroyde, Wells Fargo's head of global product manager, said in a statement:

“There is a clear opportunity to create a better customer value proposition by offering real-time financial transaction status tracking, better visibility on financial institutions' fees to and from participating partners, more accurate recovery of fee revenue, and faster resolution of disputed billing transactions.”

As an industry, correspondent banks have weighed the topic of blockchain in the past. BAFT, its primary trade organization, has gone as far as hosting events on the subject and establishing an in-house educational initiative aimed at providing timely information about blockchain tech to its membership.

Banks, drawn to the idea of cheaply moving money across international boundaries, have looked to enterprise services like the one offered by Internet payment infrastructure provider Earthport.

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