Qatari FI, Infosys Finacle complete pilot on a cloud-based blockchain network

Infosys Finacle, part of the Infosys subsidiary EdgeVerve Systems, and The Commercial Bank of Qatar and its partners, have successfully completed a pilot with the first-ever cloud-based blockchain network to process international remittances.

Commercial Bank, its Turkish subsidiary Alternatifbank, and associates National Bank of Oman and United Arab Bank in the UAE, have formed a grid for routing cross border business transactions across the India-GCC corridor, one of the busiest remittances corridor in the world, according to a World Bank report.

The blockchain network of Commercial Bank Group was created in a matter of weeks, independent of the underlying core banking systems at each of the banks, the announcement said.

The network is built on an asset-agnostic cloud-based ledger that allows banks to automate interorganizational processes, reducing the risk of fraud and enabling greater transparency.

The permissioned network eliminates the need for intermediaries, enabling the banks to settle customer payment requests on a real-time basis, the partners said.

In the next phase of this project, the Commercial Bank will focus on trade finance transactions, particularly the transmission of secure documents and smart contracts.

The blockchain network powered by Infosys Finacle conducts paperless trade finance transactions, and enables users to exchange and authenticate original international trade documents electronically in real time, as opposed to the usual duration of several days.

The solution will deliver enhanced transactional security and higher accuracy at lower costs, the announcement said.

"This pilot has demonstrated the immense potential of blockchain to provide the best customer experience for our clients and given us a glimpse of what more we could do on this powerful platform," Commercial Bank CEO Joseph Abraham said in the release. "We are delighted with the success of this pilot across the Commercial Bank Group and want to expand our cluster to form closed group networks for trade and cash transactions with more banks in South Asia, Egypt, Philippines, UAE and other countries with higher transaction volumes."