Singapore-based banking giant, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) has joined JPMorgan’s blockchain payment network dubbed the Interbank Information Network (IIN).
In a Business Times Singapore report today, OCBC – the second-largest bank by assets in Southeast Asia will join the already existing 134 banks in the region, which constitute nearly 40% of the total banks currently utilizing JPMorgan’s blockchain payment network, for faster payment processes.
At the moment, the addition of OCBC to the JPMorgan’s IIN blockchain now brings the total number of banks using the network globally to 345, with Japan having 80 participants, which is regarded as the largest proportion from a single country.
Per the report, IIN was launched in 2017 to eliminate the downtime encountered in processing global payments. The payment network runs on JPMorgan’s Quorum permissioned blockchain, which is regarded as a variant of the Ethereum Blockchain. JPMorgan’s Quorum blockchain network on its part was developed to solve the challenges associated with digital currency innovation in cross-border payments.
The Business Times report quotes John Hunter, global head of clearing for JPMorgan Chase as saying:
“The intent with IIN was always to develop a meaningful ecosystem of bank users, and all focused on harnessing emerging technologies such as blockchain to better address the complex cross border payments industry.”
Hunter added that in just one year, the IIN payment network had recorded so much success, including its expansion in roles and capabilities, and he is optimistic that more groundbreaking achievements will be recorded in the future.
Global Financial Institutions Are Increasingly Adopting Blockchain
Financial institutions are eagerly looking for innovative means to eliminate the constraints associated with traditional settlements, with a handful of banks embracing blockchain to provide meaningful solutions to these problems.
Coinfomania reported yesterday that Bank of America joined the Marco Polo blockchain trade network, to boost its trade activities. Similarly, in August, Korean oldest bank, the Shinhan Bank partnered with two blockchain firms, to establish enhanced security via the technology.
