Commercial blockchain solutions are being adopted throughout banking and financial markets, dramatically faster than initially expected, IBM said.
According to two new studies, 15 percent of banks and 14 percent of financial market institutions interviewed by IBM intend to implement full-scale, commercial blockchain solutions in 2017.
Investopedia.com defines a blockchain as a public ledger of all Bitcoin transactions.
Among the 200 global banks surveyed, 65 percent of banks expecting to have blockchain solutions in production in the next three years.
The technology giant said seven out of 10 financial institutions are using blockchain in four areas: clearing and settlement, wholesale payments, equity and debt issuance, and reference data.
“There are many advantages to being an early adopter of blockchain technology,” said Likhit Wagle, Global Industry General Manager, IBM Banking and Financial Markets.
“To start, first movers are setting business standards and creating new models that will be used by future adopters of blockchain technology. We’re also finding that these early adopters are better able to anticipate disruption, fighting off new competitors along the way.”
Tuesday, Microsoft and Bank of America Merrill Lynch announced a collaboration on blockchain technology to fuel transformation of trade finance transacting.
As part of this collaboration, the two companies will build and test technology, create frameworks, and establish best practices for blockchain-powered exchanges between businesses and their customers and banks.
Meanwhile, IBM and China UnionPay E-payment Research Institute have demonstrated a new blockchain system for loyalty bonus points exchange among multiple banks, at the Shanghai International Blockchain Week 2016.
With a few simple and quick steps, consumers will be able to exchange bonus points from among any of the banks they do business with to select the rewards they want, IBM said.
