Postal Savings Bank of China Has Already Sent 100 Transactions on its Internal Blockchain

The Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) has built a blockchain-based asset management system in partnership with IBM.

That project, which officially launched in October, has been used to conduct more than 100 live transactions, the bank said earlier this week. Relying on the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain, the system enables PSBC to track the direction of investments, with smart contracts being used to check compliance with the agreements underpinning those investments.

The bank

, founded in the mid-2000s, specializes in retail commercial banking, and according to The Wall Street Journal, serves more than half a billion customers and runs more than 40,000 branches across China.

Those involved with the initiative say the blockchain system eliminates the need for the bank to conduct multiple credit verifications for a prospective customer, thereby reducing operational processing times by as much as 80%.

Simply put, the tech helps the bank trust the information it is receiving.

An IBM representative explained to CoinDesk:

"Previously, the investment direction was completed by each participant independently, without a unanimous judgement standard. With the adoption of blockchain, decisions are now made on the basis of unified standard. This solves the mutual trust issue among multiple participants."

The partnership is the latest blockchain initiative in China for IBM.

In October, IBM unveiled a blockchain pilot developed in conjunction with global retail giant Walmart and Beijing's Tsinghua University focused on supply chains for pork products.

The firm is also working with China UnionPay, a domestic credit card processor, to create a blockchain system for trading customer loyalty points.

Postal Savings Bank of China image via Shutterstock