SBI, HDFC, ICICI bank on blockchain technology, 15 lenders form a company

Blockchain finds more backers in the Indian banks community with leading banks like ICICI, HDFC Bank and SBI along with 12 others have come together to form a company Indian Banks’ Blockchain Infrastructure Co Pvt Ltd (IBBIC) with each having equal shareholding.

The newly formed blockchain company will widen the blockchain application to the processing of Letters of Credit (LCs/LoCs), GST invoices, and e-way bills. Along with reduced processing time and paperwork elimination due to blockchain technology, banks are expected to even prevent frauds like multiple issuances of LCs on a single invoice.

This will also be a big boost to medium and small-scale enterprises (MSMEs) as tokenisation would make approvals, disbursements and settlements faster. Operation and disbursements which used to take four to five days, can be done in four hours, as some reports suggest

The project is expected to use Infosys’ Finacle Connect, a blockchain-based platform that enables digitisation and automation of trade-related finance processes.