Infosys Finacle completes global trade simulation on blockchain platform

EdgeVerve Systems, a unit of Bengaluru-based information technology company Infosys, has completed the global blockchain trade simulation process on Finacle, its digital banking solutions platform.

Conducted in partnership with New York-based enterprise software blockchain firm R3, the programme was completed in less than five weeks in which banks from across the world participated.

The tests were conducted on Finacle Trade Connect, a blockchain-based trade solution which operates on R3’s Corda platform, an official statement said. 

As many as 18 banking groups joined Finacle’s blockchain-based trade finance application to jointly conduct trials of trade finance transactions, the statement added.

The participants simulated trade processes by forming intra-country and inter-country groups among global banking groups. 

Among the participating banks were Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, RBL Bank, Syndicate Bank, Gulf International Bank, Italy-based Intesa Sanpaolo, Kenya-based ABC Bank, Russia-based Alfa Bank and South Africa-based Standard Bank.

In a survey conducted among the participants, 83% said the trial exceeded expectations. All participants (100%) surveyed said that they would recommend this pilot to their partners and peers in the industry. 

After having concluded the trials,  67% of the respondent companies said that they can cut down processing time by over 30% by operating on the shared distributed ledger. 

“Over the last four years, Finacle has made significant investments in developing blockchain solutions in the areas of remittances, trade finance and identity management. With Finacle Trade Connect solution, our vision is to help banks dramatically reduce costs and improve customer experience by connecting banks, trade partners and corporates on a unified distributed network.

The trial results demonstrate the value banks can unlock with our solution. With emerging technology like blockchain, collaboration and co-innovation is a key to achieve exponential benefits and we are committed to help our clients in their pursuits of transforming trade finance with permissioned ecosystems,” said Sanat Rao, chief business officer, Infosys Finacle.

Finacle Trade Connect was launched in 2017, and the platform has over 250 companies/corporates on the trade network. 

In October 2018, Infosys had partnered with R3 to collaborate on digital ledger solutions for banks and other financial institutions. As a result of the partnership, banks would be able to access and deploy Infosys’ blockchain solutions on Corda, R3’s open-source blockchain platform.

Earlier this month, Finacle’s digital banking suite was deployed at the Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank via cloud technologies. Solutions deployed at the bank include a software subscription service, internet and mobile banking offerings and cloud services, among other offerings.