SWIFT Announces Trial DLT Integration With R3 Blockchain

• Toshendra Kumar Sharma
• February 08, 2019

 

If it has to be one of the incredible technologies that have taken the world in its grip, then it has to be Blockchain technology. Touted to be the game changer in the industry, Blockchain has established itself as a platform that can initiate effective ways of business operations. Transparency, cost-effectiveness and security, some of the primary concern that hounds the current system is well-taken care of by Blockchain technology.

 

The Blockchain is the distributed ledger platform where the information is shared with the entire network. These are known as nodes which do the verification and validation of particular information. Every information gets stored as a block, and every block is associated with another. All this makes it almost impossible for a hacker to attack the system and change or alter the data. This feature of Blockchain can prove beneficial for nearly all the business niches and it is because of these features of Blockchain that companies like IBM, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. are trying to develop Blockchain based applications and also integrate the same in their current business operations.

 

Another name that has showcased its inclination towards Blockchain is SWIFT. The company has announced DLT integration with R3 Blockchain. Read ahead to know more on this.

 

 

The SWIFT move

SWIFT which is one the leading payment network will start testing its GPI payments via R3’s Corda platform.  The announcement was made at the Paris Fintech Forum.

 

The company also announced that this would be a trial to see how well the integrated system will perform. It will connect the SWIFT payment GPI gateway with R3’s Corda platform. The objective behind this is to create a transparent system where the company can easily monitor the flow of payment and also support application programming interfaces (APIs).

 

Corda is a Blockchain based platform that will function on traditional and Blockchain based rails.

The companies that will be using the R3 platform will authorize the payment from their banks using GPI link. The GPI payment will be settled by companies bank, and this confirmation will be reported back to the trade platforms via GPI link after completion.

 

Initially, this trial will be limited to R3’s trade ecosystem, but later it will be extended to support other DLTs, non-DLT, and e-commerce trade platforms.

 

What are the key features that SWIFT will be exploring?

Blockchain has a number of features which makes it one of the most sought after technologies today. Although it is not a holy grail that will work like wonder, it will remove the bottlenecks of the current system.

 

Let us analyze the critical features of this technology:

 

1. Peer-to-peer interaction– P2P interaction is one of the essential features of the Blockchain, and it means that the borrower and the seller can directly interact with each other without waiting for third-party approval and validation. Since there is no intermediary involved in here, it makes the entire process of transactions faster and easier.
2. Decentralization- Another feature that companies are finding interesting is decentralization. Since the complete data and information is spread across the network, it can be accessed at any point in time. Furthermore, it becomes almost difficult for a hacker to attack the system and delete the data. Since one information is spread in the entire network, it would be difficult for anyone to hack everything together.
3. Transparency– For any business operations, especially when it comes to a monetary transaction, transparency is essential. SWIFT’s decision to integrate with Corda is an attempt to bring transparency in the system thereby reducing the scope of any discrepancies.
4. Immutability- Data immutability is another feature that Corda will offer SWIFT. This Blockchain base platform will make the information safe and secure. It would be difficult for anyone from within or outside the system to change the data. Even if there is a change, it could be easily tracked and traced, thus reducing the probability of data alteration.

 

Conclusion

R3 launched Corda Settler in December. This application aims to facilitate global cryptocurrency payments and will be making use of Ripple’s XRP. This is a new cryptocurrency, and with this integration, XRP will get a boost.  The increasing pace of growth of Blockchain based solutions indicates that this technology is here to stay for long and create a system which will be highly efficient and transparent.