Japanese Banking Giant Exec Says Blockchain Is Making ‘a B2B Shift’

A senior executive at one of Japan’s biggest banking groups, the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), has talked up the role of blockchain technology in the world of finance – and claims that businesses are now shifting away from business-to-consumer (B2C) offerings in favor of business-to-business (B2B) alternatives.

SMBC, which has assets worth over USD 2tn, per last year’s financial report, is the only Japanese bank to join the Marco Polo Network blockchain initiative, a trade financing platform that also comprises the likes of the Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank and ING.

Japanese media outlet SBB+IT quoted SMBC’s Deputy President and Head of Global Business Masahiko Oshima as stating that while cryptoasset-related activities constituted B2C business, “in recent years, blockchain has steadily expanded into the field of B2B transactions.”

The executive was speaking at a blockchain event co-organized by the regulatory Financial Services Agency and the Nikkei media group.

He stated that blockchain adoption would help banks provide better services, and could be used to boost the efficacy of internal operations.

Oshima said,

“IT has brought about major changes to the way we live and do business in a number of business sectors. In the financial industry, we will add new value for our customers by actively incorporating new technologies such as blockchain. We are focusing on improving productivity by improving the efficiency of the way we work.”

Oshima added that “enterprise blockchain” initiatives had the power to transform a number of business sectors, “especially in the world of finance.” He concluded that the full effect of banks’ blockchain-related moves would likely be felt a decade from now, as banks tend to take a long-term view when it comes to business development.
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