BEIJING and ARMONK, N.Y.,
Jan. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/
-- Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) announced today that it launched
its blockchain-based asset custody system. As part of its work, the
bank has also successfully executed more than 100 real business
transactions on the blockchain since the system went live in
October 2016. PSBC worked with IBM
(NYSE: IBM) and used the Hyperledger Fabric to create the
first deployment in China to apply
blockchain technology to asset custody in the financial
industry.
As one of China's leading retail banks, PSBC pays
attention to the technology innovation to speed its research
in
advanced financial products, technologies, processes and business applications. As
part of these efforts, the bank worked with IBM to develop an asset
custody system built on the Hyperledger Fabric. Upon completion of
a Design Thinking workshop and joint development work with IBM, the
bank embarked on a two-month trial operation, during which it
completed over one hundred asset custody transactions involving
buying and selling bonds. During the trial, the system demonstrated
blockchain's ability to help streamline the traditionally complex
credit verification process and manage risk, helping financial
institutions operate more securely and efficiently.
As one of PSBC's core businesses, asset custody now represents
an approximately four trillion RMB
business. Asset custody process typically involves multiple
parties, including financial institutions, clients, asset
custodians, asset managers and investment advisors and auditors.
Each transaction involves the settlement of large sums of money and
multiple participants exchanging data, each with its own
information system and often relying on verification systems such
as telephone, fax and mail, potentially creating delays,
discrepancies and risk with reporting between entities.
PSBC's blockchain solution enables the real-time sharing of
information by multiple parties, eliminates repeated credit
verifications, which reduces the operation process by about
60%-80%1 and helps make information exchanges more
efficient. The smart contract and consensus mechanism integrates
investment compliance verification regulations into the blockchain,
and ensures that transactions are completed after contracts are
satisfied and a consensus is reached. The immutability and
encryption built into the blockchain ensures that account
information remains secure while allowing the quick sharing of
necessary information by transaction participants. Furthermore,
blockchain technology helps auditing and supervising parties
quickly gain information, intervene and exercise control, thus
improving the efficiency of risk management across the
industry.
Lyu Jiajin, President, PSBC, said, "Blockchain technology has
the potential to eliminate the trust frictions in financial
business activities at a very low cost and creates trust and
enables the efficient exchange of information for all the parties
involved in a transaction.
This technology has the potential to fundamentally transform the
financial industry. Today, with a booming fintech and business
innovation in the financial
industry, we expect to join hands
with more financial institutions to build the ecosystem for
a financial industry based on
blockchain technology."
"The successful launch of PSBC's blockchain-based asset custody
platform demonstrates the high impact the technology can have on
the financial industry. As the technology evolves, we expect to
work with PSBC to define and develop new solutions, drive adoption
of blockchain in more lines of business and support more
organizations in China and around
the world as they build their blockchain ecosystems and create a
more efficient and trusted business environment," said Chen LiMing, Chairman, IBM Greater China
Group.
1 Based on performance improvement data from PSBC in
production environment
Contact: Hannah Slocum,
978-877-0105, hslocum@us.ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM Corporation