IBM has announced partnership with Stellar Lumens to improve the speed in which banks both clear and settle payment transactions in near-real time. Their solution is already processing twelve currency corridors in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Pacific Islands. It will also achieve goal of extending financial services to one billion people by the year 2020. For instance, their new partnership will allow a farmer in Samoa to make a trade with buyer residing in Indonesia. The Stellar Lumens’ blockchain will be used to record the contract and manage trade documentation. This will allow the farmer to put up collateral, obtain letters of credit and finalize transaction terms.
IBM is already deploying this system in banks throughout the world including Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Bank Danamon Indonesia, Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Permata, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Kasikornbank Thailand, Mizuho Financial Group, National Australia Bank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Philippines, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, TD Bank and Wizdraw (HK) of WorldCom Finance.
This is the first time anyone has made blockchain work at an institutionally viable scale. The company is looking forward to the results with using IBM Blockchain as we continue to push forward with our mission to remove payment friction across borders.