Published: 19 December 2019 Author: Annie Green Blockchain technology has a lot of potential, and the global finance industry has not failed to seize opportunities to maximise its use. Aside from it being paired with the famed Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, its decentralised nature, immutability, and transparency have made it attractive for finance industries and leaders around the world. This is because out of all the sectors, it’s arguably banking and finance that could benefit the most. With hundreds, thousands, and millions of funds being regularly transferred from one region to another every day, the global financial industry could definitely use a safer option of transferring funds, among other things. How is blockchain currently being used today in financial industries around the world? While some have said that blockchains will do to banks what the internet did to media, the opposite may be true. The technology poses a solution to many of the problems banks today face, offering safety, transparency, and more affordability. Given this, the technology is growing rapidly in all parts of the world — whether it’s in the US, Europe, or even Asia. For instance, in the Philippines, a local financial institution called Union Bank has led the way with blockchain, introducing cryptocurrencies and several internal blockchain applications, along with a blockchain system that will aid in connecting rural banks. The country’s Central Bank has also begun exploring possibilities for blockchain usage, with interest in moving more and more transactions to the digital format. The Monetary Authority in Singapore has also become a partner of R3, a blockchain and distributed ledger technology firm, to explore how blockchain can be used for inter-bank payments. In the European region, banks such as the Italian-based Associazione Bancaria Italiana along with 14 other banks participated in a Corda-based blockchain network. These banks have noted that blockchain could be used for smart contracts to regulate the transfer of data. While the implementation of blockchain is slow, the European Union itself is also pushing for the use of the technology in different industries, which could speed up the process and see mainstream use in the coming months or years. Even the US has seen slow but steady adoptions of blockchain in the financial sector. The Bank of America, for instance, has over 50 blockchain patents to be ahead of competitors, even if the giant has admitted to not seeing any large-scale opportunities just yet. To top it off, the 2017 Global Fintech Report found that 77% of Fintech institutes expect to adopt blockchain technology in their system or processes by 2020. What does the future look like for blockchain? While adoption is slow, the possibilities with technology as powerful as blockchains are endless — and this is why the global financial sector is set to pounce on it. From offering low costs to increasing their customer base, blockchains provide banks an opportunity to stay relevant amongst a world that’s going digital. It’s only a matter of time before we can see widespread use and adoption in not just the financial sector, but all the industries as well.

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