The multinational German investment bank, Deutsche Bank, is joining JPMorgan’s blockchain-powered cross-border payment messaging system, also known as Interbank Information Network (IIN).
The aim of JPMorgan’s growing blockchain network is to counter the inefficiencies of the SWIFT payment system. SWIFT payments are cross-border transactions that are sent via SWIFT international payment network. It is one of the largest financial messaging systems in the world, which consists of 11,000 banks.
IIN aims to provide a seamless way for all the involved parties to send and track their transactions. Since manual interventions are no longer required, like in normal networks, the speed and efficiency of the network increases. This is just one of the many features that IIN has introduced.
Unlike other blockhain payment services, the IIN platform uses the existing infrastructure of the bank to operate. This makes it easier for the bank to integrate the system in its infrastructure. Currently, the IIN platform consists of 300 members. These members include Mizuho, Société Générale and China CITIC.
Even though the network consists of some big names, the platform has struggled to gain large and notable banks as its members. There are two European banks, ING and BNP Paribas, that are now using blockchain technology, but none of them have joined the network yet.
Attracting More Big Names to the Blockchain Network
The head of wholesale payments at JPMorgan, Takis Georgakopoulos, while speaking to the Financial Times talked about what it meant for the network that a large bank like Deutsche was joining the system. He said:
“Having Deutsche join — and hopefully Deutsche will be the first of several other large banks — is going to help us drive towards ubiquity and ubiquity is a pre-requisite for the success of the network.”
According to him, IIN has helped JPMorgan in improving its services by reducing the time required to resolve payment issues. The banking giant is now able to resolve issues in hours, instead of weeks.
The decision to join the IIN platform is an attempt by the German bank to offer better and faster services to its clients. The head of Deutsche’s cash management division, Ole Matthiessen, talked about how joining the platform will help the bank in increasing the “customer satisfaction.”
By the end of 2019, 400 banks are expected to join IIN. JPMorgan developed a special enterprise version of Ethereum’s blockchain network, known as Quorum, which is now being used for the platform.
