Emirates NBD and India's Icici Bank have successfully completed a pilot project to deploy a permissionable blockchain for international remittances and open account trade finance transactions.
The proof of concept was undertaken by Emirates NBD Future Lab using Infosys' using EdgeVerve Blockchain Framework, a permissioned ledger designed specifically for the banking sector.
The bank says the trade finance purchase order and invoice financing cycle tests conducted in the lab showed a near real-time transfer of invoices and purchase orders, significantly cutting time and costs compared to traditional means.
The prototype application was integrated with the Infosys Finacle core banking and other host systems within the pilot technology environments on both banks and was designed to be least disruptive to existing systems and processes, allowing the banks to seamlessly plug in to the ledger.
Emirates NBD chairman Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, says the bank is currently engaged with trialing blockchain technology across multiple banking and payment services, from customer-facing and government transactions to internal systems.
“We anticipate blockchain to be a potential game changer in creating a secure, scalable, cost and time-efficient digital ecosystem for government and businesses," he says. "As a bank that has pioneered digital innovation in banking and payments in the UAE, we are truly excited to take the lead in testing future applications of this exciting technology in the banking sector.”