BTL teams with Visa Europe Collab for blockchain settlement project
Farewell, friction
BTL Group is partnering with Visa Europe Collab to investigate potential applications for blockchain settlement in financial services.
The project will use BTL’s cross-border settlement platform Interbit to explore the ways in which blockchain-based settlements can “reduce the friction” of domestic and cross border transfers between banks. A small number of European banks have been invited to participate in the project.
Guy Halford-Thompson, CEO of BTL, says it is a “great opportunity for forward-thinking banks” to take part in a pilot “backed by one of the world’s leading financial institutions”.
BTL (Blockchain Tech Ltd) is based at the fintech accelerator Level 39 in Canary Wharf, London, and is a member of Innovate Finance. It says its technology is developed in-house and through BTL’s incubator and accelerator programs, which is based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
BTL’s first technology platform is a remittance business called Xapcash which, combined with Interbit, is focused on using blockchain to create “cash-in cash-out” settlement solutions from Canada and the UK to target countries.
An Asian trilogy
Over the last few days, there have been a number of other blockchain developments. By chance, they’re all in Asia.
CEOs from Samsung’s subsidiaries attended a lecture on blockchain at Seoul National University in South Korea, which could be a sign that the group is looking to jump on the crowded blockchain bandwagon.
Hitachi and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) started proof of concept (PoC) testing for using blockchain in the digitalisation of cheques in Singapore.
SBI Ripple Asia announced that a Japanese consortium of 15 banks in a new network will use Ripple’s blockchain technology for payments and settlement.
