According to Financial Times, Wall Street bank JP Morgan has forged a partnership with Siemens to build a blockchain-based payments system for the German industrial group. Currently, the platform is only used for U.S. dollars, but it could facilitate euro payments as soon as next year.
Due to the increased adoption of payment methods such as pay-per-usage, Siemens believes that improved automation is needed to process the far greater number of payments it expects due to the growing popularity.
“If the business would stay the same as it is today, I would say we are fine regarding our treasury set-up. We can automate a bit and maybe we reduce costs and cash allocation,” Heiko Nix, head of cash management and payments at Siemens, told the Financial Times. “This is not the reason why we are doing this. The reason is that we are seeing a huge change due to the emerging digital business models, because we will no longer be able to forecast cash, for example.”
JP Morgan’s blockchain unit, Onyx, will build the payments system. “You want more flexible rules or flexible triggers, that is where the current infrastructure falls short,” Naveen Mallela, global head of coin systems at Onyx blockchain unit said. According to Mallela, there is a line of customers already that want to trial the new payment system, however, JPMorgan has decided to let Siemens use it first.
The move comes amid the growing appetite for banking giants and major institutions to adopt blockchain tech and its applications for day-to-day operations and the settlement process of cross-border payments.
Citi, Wells Fargo, US Bancorp, PNC, Fifth Third Bank, and Signature Bank, are some of the major banks that have admitted to have integrated blockchain technology this year.