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Applications of Blockchain Technology in Banking & Finance

Technical Report · February 2018

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.35237.96489

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 APPLICATIONS OF BLOCKCHAIN
TECHNOLOGY IN BANKING & FINANCE
Tejal Shah 1, Shailak Jani 2,
Under the guidance of Dr. P K Priyan (Professor @ GHPIBM dept Management Studies)
Assistant Professor 1, Post Graduate Student 2,
Faculty of Management Studies 1, 2,
Parul University, Vadodara, India.

Abstract- A new disruptive force of digital technology is changing the business models and increasingly
becoming a crucial factor around the world. Blockchain technology is generating significant interest across
a wide range of industries in India. As the field of applications for Blockchain grows, industry leaders are
customizing and tailoring the technology to fit multiple use cases. The Blockchain technology is
responsible for developing a next step in the decentralized approach for creating applications. This paper
aims at explaining the architecture of Blockchain Technology as well as how it works. Besides various
features of the Blockchain, the benefits derived from it are also discussed. The use cases and Blockchain fit
assessment has also been performed for few banking transactions. In the last section we also have a look at
the security aspects of the Blockchain.

Index Terms- Applications of Blockchain, Blockchain, Benefits from Blockchain, Decentralized

consensus, Features of Blockchain, Security Aspects of Blockchain, Smart contracts, Trusted Computing,
Banking.
----------  ----------

1 INTRODUCTION

Blockchain, mostly known as the backbone technology behind Bitcoin, is one of the emerging technologies
currently in the market attracting lot of attentions from enterprises, start-ups and media. Blockchain has the
potential to transform multiple industries and make processes more democratic, secure, transparent, and efficient.
With high volumes of data getting generated every day owing to digitization of records, it becomes important for
every organization to effectively manage the security threats and achieve significant cost efficiencies. This is
where Blockchain, with its promises of decentralized ownership, immutability and cryptographic security of data,
is catching the attention of the C-suite executives. Multiple use cases are also getting explored across industries as
everyone has started realising the disruptive potential of this technology. Financial players are the first movers to
capitalize on this technology even though it is still in a nascent stage. A study by the World Economic Forum
predicts banks and regulators around the world are poised to experiment multiple Blockchain prototypes in 2017.
With 90+ central banks engaged in Blockchain discussion globally, 2500+ patents filed over the last three years
and 80% of the banks predicted to initiate Blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) projects by 2017,
the Blockchain technology is on its course to become the new normal in the world of financial services. Many
companies, from a plethora of nonfinancial services industries like telecom Cyber Security, Supply Chain
Management, Forecasting, Insurance Industry, Private transport and Ride Sharing, Cloud Storage, Crowd
Funding, Voting, Governance, Energy Management, Retail, Real estate are on its way to establish the potential
Blockchain use cases to positively disrupt their traditional business models or already implemented their pilot
Blockchain use cases.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

No Journal/ Title Aut Ye Conclusion/Result

Confere hor ar
nce
2.1 Mannhe A Stef No Researchers agree that the Blockchain technology has
im Compreh an ve certain features that is well applied within the financial
 Universi ensive K. mb industry, but still lacks to find the appropriate use of large
ty, Literature Joha er scale Blockchain usage within modern society. By looking
Depart Review nsen 20 at the main concepts, we find that New innovation,
ment of On The 17 Decentralization and Digital Innovation is amongst the
Informa Blockcha most common concepts found in the literature. Research
tion in As A also points towards the technological features as becoming
Systems Technolo drivers for disruption and innovation for the technology.
gical One of the main issues of Blockchain technology is
Enabler scalability which is furthermore backed by researchers who
For argues that for assuring the theoretically achievable
Innovatio security of the Blockchain, a large number of full nodes are
n required. Davidson et al. furthermore argue that the
Blockchain technology makes possible new forms of
institutional innovation. Furthermore, by looking at the
research, we find that practitioners propose many areas of
which the Blockchain possibly will have a disruptive
effect, for example information and communication.
2.2 New Applicati Dr. Ma Crowdfunding is a critical utility particularly for small
Europea on Of Mic rch market enterprises as the new venture amidst a pervasive
n Blockcha hael 20 threat of employment crisis and insecurity. It is thus vital
in Geb 17 for governments to facilitate access to funds by small
Technolo ert enterprises. Notwithstanding the favourable environment
gy In of the EU, crowdfunding has not been very successful in
Crowdfu the region. The tenacious growth of the sector further
nding: A illustrates that the practice is a necessity that entrepreneurs
Case expect to raise the capital to operate. Traditional
Study Of crowdfunding in EU has been thwarted by concerns of
The Eu malpractices such as money laundering, information
asymmetry, and fraud that prompts legislative restrictions
on the fundraising activities. Nevertheless, the blockchain
technology is a tool that provides immense hope for a
revival of crowdfunding across the world. The technology
is a revolutionary and disruptive innovation targeting the
reduction of bureaucracy and regulation without
compromising legal provisions on business conduct. The
blockchain technology provides a distributed public ledger
that enhances transparency such that participants can
conduct affairs without concerns of imposition over the
internet. Most importantly, blockchain technology
eliminates information asymmetry in its entirety thus
suiting every stakeholder's needs for proof of authenticity.
2.3 White Blockcha Dr. Se The technology could remove trusted third parties,
Paper- in Eric pte decrease costs and ultimately increase profits for various
Infosys Technolo G. mb players within the industry. Although public blockchain
gy and Kra er, provide high data security and transparency, they are
the use, 20 relatively slow if a high number of transactions needs to be
Financial Den 17 processed. Private blockchains instead enable higher
Services ny transaction speeds and more privacy but often come along
Market Nac with lower security standards. Furthermore, the technology
k, is still in an early stage and has to prove itself in practice.
Dr. The time horizon for the technology's availability for broad
Viv use in financial services is estimated to be 5-10 years. In
ek the field of payment transactions, it could reshape the
K. current correspondent banking processes and lead to cost
Vel savings. In trade finance, it improves the segment by
amu providing trust, security, risk mitigation and fast processes
ri, at low costs. In over-the-counter markets, the technology
Mor has the potential to redesign the market infrastructure and
itz lead to the elimination of obsolete market participants.
Sch Moreover, it could enable the automation of contracts and
 midt facilitate cost savings through lean back- office processes.
One major requirement and challenge while creating and
redefining these new business models is to manage the
transition phase from old to new processes that incorporate
blockchain solutions efficiently. One way of achieving this
will surely be the cooperation with regulators in order to
establish the legal framework that is urgently needed.
2.4 INCITE Future Dr. Oc The defining characteristic of a blockchain is that it is a
Confere Applicati Gar tob trustworthy open ledger of work or transactions that are
nce, ons Of eth er independently verified by multiple agents. Independent
Amity Blockcha R.T. 20 verification imbues the blockchain with a degree of
Universi in: Whi 16 robustness that enables its contents to be trusted. However,
ty, India Toward te a blockchain could be constructed that comprised records
A Value- , of other forms of activity, such as instances of
Based Kev voluntariness or exchange and barter between individuals
Society. in or groups. Such acts may be recorded within a blockchain
Bro and form an approach by which individuals accrue
wn recognition of their acts that are beneficial to their society.
Other individuals within the society would act as
independent verifiers of those acts and thus provide robust
and trusted confirmation of the blockchain records. Social
blockchains would then act as open ledgers of people or
groups that have value to society. Individuals or groups
would obtain increased social value by engaging in acts
that were sociably valuable. These may be acts of
provision of hygiene factors such as shelter, sustenance or
support.
2.5 Internati Blockcha Stef Ma Blockchain technology creates a trusted environment
onal in an y, through its transparent nature, making information publicly
Confere Technolo See 20 available thought out its entire network, while also
nce on gy as an bac 17 assuring the integrity and immutability of data.
Explori Enabler her Decentralization allows for the protection of privacy,
ng of and through pseudonymization, and creates a reliable and
Services Service Ron versatile setting. The identified characteristics were
Science, Systems: ny subsequently assessed in the context of a service system.
Italy A Sch Blockchain technology addresses many important aspects,
2017 Structure üritz which support the functioning of a service system, such as
d facilitating co-creation of value, ensuring availability of
Literature information and offering mechanisms of coordination.
Review Therefore, the technology is expected to have an extensive
impact on current and contribute to the formation of new
service systems. As for further research, it would be of
interest to explore blockchain technology's contribution
within real world use cases. Hence, insights are to be
generated by performing a large-scale empirical analysis
on existing areas of application.
2.6 Consum Is Law Ma This article examines some of the disruptive changes that
er Disruptiv renc y are likely to occur in financial services due to rapid
e e J. 20 technological advances. In addition, virtual currencies and
Finance Blockcha Tra 17 the genesis of Bitcoin are examined, along with an
Law in utm explanation of blockchain technology, e.g., what it is and
Quarterl Technolo an why its important. The article includes a brief mention of
y Report gy the the regulatory challenges to the adoption of this new
Future of technology. Many policymakers are seeking to gaina better
Financial understanding of the likelihood that the use of bitcoin (or
Services? other crypto currencies) will gather momentum in their
respective jurisdictions. He said that “laws and regulations
could be programmed into the blockchain itself, so that
they are enforced automatically. In other situations, the
ledger can act as legal evidence for accessing (or storing)
 data, since it is (Computationally) tamper-proof.”
2.7 White Block Prof Ma A world bank report, 2014 said that around 2 billion
paper- Chain & . rch individuals who don't have access to banking services.
Geroget Financial Ree 20 From which 20.6% unbanked individual are form India. In
own Inclusion na 17 the paper, they discussed that block chain can play
Universi Agg significant role in the financial Inclusion process. They
ty, raw said that FI using block chain for internal and cross border
Chambe al payments can lower costs, shorten settlement time, and
r of provide better user experience. They concluded that
Digital regulators should engage, intervene at early stage and
Comme shape the innovation.
rce .
2.8 Guo and Blockcha Ye 2 In this paper Ye Guo and Chen Liang, had presented their
Liang in Guo 01 idea by examining Chinese Banking sector. They said that
Financia and 6
l applicatio Che Blockchains could revolutionize the underlying technology
Innovati n and n of the payment clearing and credit information systems in
on outlook Lian banks, thus upgrading and transforming them. Blockchain
in the g applications also promote the formation of “multi-center,
banking weakly intermediate scenarios, which will enhance the
industry efficiency of the banking industry. It is worth noting that
the problems of regulation, efficiency, and security have
always sparked extensive debate in the process of each
new financial innovation. However, history is not stopped
by current obstacles, as the technical, regulatory, and other
problems of blockchain technology will ultimately be
resolved. Hence, the prospect of integrating blockchain
technology into the banking industry will most likely occur
in the near future.

3. WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN

A Blockchain is a digital, immutable, distributed ledger that chronologically records transactions in near real
time. The prerequisite for each subsequent transaction to be added to the ledger is the respective consensus of
the network participants (called nodes), thereby creating a continuous mechanism of control regarding
manipulation, errors, and data quality. It creates a digital ledger of transactions and thereby allowing to share it
among a distributed network of computers and it also maintains a continuously-growing list of records called
generally called "blocks" which are secured from tampering and revision. A blockchain implementation
comprises of two kinds of records: blocks and transactions. In each block contains a timestamp and a link to a
previous block is provided by the secure hash algorithm. The prime advantage is that it uses cryptography
which allows different users to modify the transactions on a secured network each one accessing their node of
data. If majority of nodes agree that the transaction performed looks valid, identifying information which
matches the blockchain's history and thus a new block is added to the chain. Blockchain configurations are
divided depending on the type and size of the network and then majorly by the use case of a particular
company.
The two types of blockchain are public and private. Ledgers are public if:
1. Anyone can write data, without permission granted by another authority.
2. Anyone can read data, without permission granted by another authority
For example, bitcoin is designed as a ‘anyone-can-write' blockchain, where participants can add to the ledger
without needing approval, there is no superior authority to decide, and it imbues a defence mechanisms against
attacks. As a result there is an increased cost and complexity in implementing this blockchain.
 In Private Blockchain network the participants are known and trusted and there is a level of confidentiality. For
example, in a conglomerate, many of the mechanisms aren't needed or they are replaced with legal binding
contracts making everyone whoever has signed the contract to abide to these rules. It rapidly changes the
technical decisions used to build the solution.
3.1 Need for Blockchain:
The major question that arises is to why use blockchain when already the market has flourishing plethora of
other databases. What substantial importance it holds against the competing products. For this let's understand
the problem with the existing systems.

They could be summed up as follows:

(i) Difficult to monitor and evaluate asset ownership and its transfer in a trusted
business network.
(ii) Inefficient, expensive, vulnerable: All these factors extremely hinder the performance and thereby
destroying the progress.
3.2 Solution offered by Blockchain:

Blockchain unlike traditional systems is dynamic enough to become a leader in implementation in a

mercurial market scenario. In a blockchain the supreme advantage it ensures is that each party has a record
which is maintained in a ledger available to each one. It is a ledger widely passed between different users
thereby creating a shared database which is replicated to these users and who can access it only after they
have the access right for it. Consensus, provenance, immutability, finality are the various aspects into
which it works, making sure that all these facets work together into a reasonable amalgamation.
 3.3 Anatomy of the Blockchain architecture
The blockchain architecture consists of a few fundamental concepts like decentralization, digital signature,
mining and data integrity.

(i) Decentralization: Rather than one central authority overpowering others in the ecosystem, blockchain
explicitly distributes control amongst all peers in the transaction chain.
(ii) Digital signature: Blockchain enables an exchange of transactional value using public keys by the
mechanism of a unique digital sign i.e. code for decryption known to everyone on the network and private
keys known only to the owner to create ownership.
(iii) Mining: In a distributed system every user mines and digs deep into the data which is then evaluated
according to the cryptographic rules and it also acknowledges miners for confirmation and verification of
the transactions.
(iv) Data integrity: Complex algorithms and agreement among users ensures that transaction data, once
agreed upon, cannot be tampered with and thus remains unaffected. Data stored on blockchain acts as a
single version of truth for all parties involved hence reducing the risk of fraud.

4 . HOW BLOCKCHAIN WORKS

As described above the block chain is nothing but a distributed shared decentralized public ledger which is
open to all. It is a data structure which is perceived to be robust and immutable. The essence of the
blockchain as showcased in its most famous implementation to date is that the data is replicated. Every
participant in the network has the same list of bitcoin transactions. In a blockchain we check if the ledger is
verifiable by a majority of the participants in the network. In the bitcoin network, this majority of
participants is replaced by important members designated as the Validators in the networks. These validator
nodes checks and then pass around the payments and the block data. This is because to maintain the
essence of the blockchain philosophy, the bitcoin system aim to decentralized, thus not giving control to
one single authority.
The working of a blockchain be it public or private is as described below:

Let us consider 5 participants in our blockchain, A, B, C, D, E who are on a decentralized, distributed

network. This blockchain example will implement the blockchain technology in the bitcoin system.
(1) A wants to send 50 bitcoins to B.
(2) This transaction of 50 bitcoins is represented online as a block.
(3)This block is then broadcasted to each and every participant in the network [C, D and E].
(4)In this example, C, D and E will serve as the validators in our network. This approve that the
transaction is valid.
(5) This block containing the transaction them is added to the blockchain.
(6) The 50 bitcoins are transferred from A to B.
In Step 4, the validator, C, D and E execute cryptographic algorithms and conduct an evaluation and
verification of the history of the individual blockchain under consideration. If the evaluation proves that
history and the hash values are all valid, then the transaction is accepted. This is known as distributed
consensus.
If C, D and E for some reason cannot validate the information in the blockchain, then the data is rejected
and entry for the block is denied and it is not added into the blockchain.
Here, one must note that each block is like a page in a book. Just like a page contain two main
characteristics, name a header containing book name/chapter name and page number, and the contents of
the book which is the story, the block in the blockchain contains the header which is the hash value of the
previous block and the content which is the bitcoin transaction itself. So the Block 2 contains the hash value
of Block 1, Block 3 contains the hash value of Block 2, Similarly Block N contains the hash value of Block
N-1.The first block is called the genesis block and it is different from the other blocks in the sense that it
does not contain a hash value of another block and hence, produces an unspendable subsidy. The new
blocks are added and linked to the older blocks of the blockchain. This chain is continuously updated so that
every ledger remains the same. The presence of this hash value is what makes the blockchain robust. If say
Block 3 is to be modified, then the hash values in all of its subsequent blocks (Block 4, Block 5….. Block
N) is also modified, thus giving rise to a regenerated blockchain. This decentralized, transparent mechanism
makes the blockchain secure, robust and free from damage. The validators and the generators add to the
blockchain only if they verify that it is the latest block in the longest valid change. Another point to be
noted here is that in a blockchain, the length of the blockchain is not the number of blocks but the combined
difficulty of the blocks.
A blockchain is said to be valid if:
 (1) All the blocks in the blockchain are valid.
(2) All the transaction contained in the blocks are valid.
(3) The blockchain starts with the genesis block.

5. BENEFITS FROM BLOCKCHAIN

Blockchain, as discussed in the above section by virtue of its design and architecture, offers some inherent
benefits which the industry has been looking for quite some time now. The distributed nature of Blockchain
brings in a lot of transparency in processing and thereby reduces the need for manual verification and
authorisation. The key features of the Blockchain include following:
5.1 Near real time: Blockchain enables the near real-time settlement of recorded transactions, removing
friction, and reducing risk.
5.2 No intermediary: Blockchain technology is based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two
parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party.
5.3 Distributed ledger: The peer-to-peer distributed network records a public history of transactions. The
blockchain is distributed and highly available. The blockchain does not typically preserve the identities of
the parties or the transaction data, only the proof of the transaction existence.
5.4 Irreversibility & Immutability: The blockchain contains a certain and verifiable record of every single
transaction ever made. This prevents past blocks from being altered and in turn stops double spending,
fraud, abuse, and manipulation of transactions.
5.5 Smart Contracts: Stored procedures executed in a Blockchain to process pre-defined business steps and
execute a commercially/legally enforceable transaction without involvement of an intermediary.

6. BLOCKCHAIN FIT ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK

Banks across the country have successfully initiated collaboration with specialized firms (Fintech) and/or
consulting firms to build proof-of-concepts and explore various potential use-cases. This implies the seriousness
of banks towards the Blockchain technology and its eagerness to understand how Blockchain can address and
resolve few pain points in the current state process.
6.1 Major issues that banks face today
The Indian banking industry today is faced with issues such as rising costs of operations, increasing
susceptibility to fraudulent attacks on centralized servers and challenges in ensuring transparency. All this,
primarily because most of the banking transactions – from opening customer accounts to making global
payments – may require intensive manual processing and documentation, involve costly intermediaries and is
time consuming as these transactions need to be validated by various participants at various point in time
causing the delay thereby resulting in almost lack of fraud proof real time solution.
6.2 What are banks looking for?
Banks are continuously exploring new ways to perform transactions quicker for an enhanced customer service,
while ensuring cost efficiency in its operations and assuring transparency to customers and regulators.
For this, Blockchain potentially provides a solution for banks as it inherently helps eliminate intermediaries,
maintain immutable log of transactions and also facilitates real-time execution of transactions. This could
potentially reduce the TAT for banking transaction, reducing costs of manual work, and leading to enhanced
customer service and satisfaction. Like any other industry, choosing the right ‘use case' is the key for Banks to
leverage full value of Blockchain.
6.3 The Blockchain Fit Assessment Framework
Based on the above discussion of what are the current pain points of Banking Industry and benefits of
blockchain, a Blockchain Assessment Framework is developed to evaluate whether a particular process or use-
case is the right fit for a Blockchain based solution. For a process or a use-case to classify as Blockchain-fit,
majority of the questions provided in the framework need to be answered in the affirmative. As we can see from
the framework, each of the evaluation factors uncovers a pain point in the current state process, which could be
resolved by a feature of the Blockchain solution. The resulting impact of implementing a full-fledged
Blockchain solution is summarized below:
 Factor Assessment Framework Impact of Blockchain Fit
Intermediary • High fees for intermediary? Blockchain's distributed ledger technology
• Latency due to processing through facilitates disintermediation, thereby reducing
intermediary? costs and lowering latency.
• Does the intermediary exist due to lack
of trust?
Transparency • Are multiple participants involved? The hash/ pointers of the records written on the
• Does increase in transparency into the Blockchain are immutable and irreversible, not
transaction help the participants allowing modifications and eliminating risk of
fraud.
Information • Is the same information being stored in Blockchain's distributed ledger and consensus
Storage multiple locations? mechanism allows data consistency across
• Is data consistency an issue? multiple participants.
Manual • Does the process involve manual Blockchain maintains automated audit trail of
Processing operations? transactions, thereby reducing manual
• Is the cost of Reconciliation high? processing for data validations and
reconciliations.
Trust • Is there trust among participants? Smart contracts allow codification of business
• Do multiple participants have the right rules, validations and reconciliation, thereby
to modify transactions? reducing manual processing.
• Is there a risk of fraudulent transactions?
Documentation • Is the documentation paper-based? Smart contracts allow business validations and
• Is there a large number of documents / automated reconciliation for straight through
reports required to be generated? processing.
Time • Will the transactions benefit from being Blockchain enables the near real-time settlement
Sensitivity real-time or synchronous? of recorded transactions, reducing risk and
providing an enhanced customer experience.
7. USE-CASES OR PROCESSES WHERE BLOCKCHAIN CAN PLAY A KEY ROLE
Presented below are some specific use cases, where we believe that Blockchain can play a key role for helping
Indian banks and financial institutions realize significant benefits.
7.1 Consortium Banking
Corporations undertake multiple large projects such as development of roads, train systems, airports, factories,
new business centres, etc., which requires large-scale financing. Procuring these large funds necessitate the
institutions to come together to form consortium and diversify the financial risk among its members. Such
participation in lending will enable a bank to limit the commitment in respect of any one party. The leader bank
or members by rotation could do the work of inspection and verification of securities.
Various regulatory prescriptions regarding conduct of consortium / multiple banking / syndicate arrangements
were withdrawn by Reserve Bank of India in October 1996 with a view to introducing flexibility in the credit
delivery system and to facilitate smooth flow of credit. However, Central Vigilance Commission, Government
of India, in the light of frauds involving consortium / multiple banking arrangements which have taken place
recently, has expressed concerns on the working of Consortium Lending and Multiple Banking Arrangements in
the banking system. The Commission has attributed the incidence of frauds mainly to the lack of effective
sharing of information about the credit history and the conduct of the account of the borrowers among various
banks.
We have examined this landscape using our assessment framework and find a near-perfect candidate for
adoption of a Blockchain based solution.
Factor Assessment Framework Consortium Banking Fit
Intermediary • High fees for intermediary? Yes – agents & intermediaries are appointed at
• Latency due to processing high fees to manage and administer the
through intermediary? process.
• Does the intermediary exist due
to lack of trust?
 Transparency • Are multiple participants Yes – consortium members seek transparency
involved? customer's rating, loan administering, etc.
• Does increase in transparency while customers seek transparency in
into the transaction help the underwriting.
participants?
Information • Is the same information being Yes – customer information has to be gathered
Storage stored in multiple locations? from multiple sources for underwriting. Each
• Is data consistency an issue? member also stores a copy of the customer
details
Manual • Does the process involve Yes – the entire lifecycle is very paper
Processing manual operations? intensive with customer details, negotiated
• Is the cost of Reconciliation terms and conditions among members, etc
high?
Trust • Is there trust among Yes – multiple participants are involved in the
participants? transactions including agents, customers,
• Do multiple participants have consortium members, etc. who may not be well
the right to modify transactions? known to each other, causing a lack of trust.
• Is there a risk of fraudulent
transactions?
Documentation • Is the documentation paper- Yes – There are multiple documentations
based? required at consortium formation, as well as
• Is there a large number of payment with a lot of validations for bills,
documents / reports required to be items of purchase, etc. This is not due to
generated? regulatory reporting requirement.
Time • Will the transactions benefit Yes – the turnaround time can be reduced and
Sensitivity from being real-time or risk lowered if payment settlements become
synchronous? real time.

Current Pain Points How Blockchain Can Help

Time-consuming process: Selection of members Faster syndicate formation: Automated
based on financial soundness and industry expertise, selection criteria for syndicate formation in
evaluation of borrower’s financial background and programmable smart contracts.
then negotiation of term and conditions is a tedious
and time consuming process for the Lead Arranger.
Intermediary Fees: Agents and intermediaries have Technology integration: Automated due
to be appointed at high fees to manage and administer diligence and analysis of information for loan
the process underwriting through Blockchain, reducing
TAT.
Manual Processing: The technology systems are Digitization of documents: Agreements,
obsolete and processes are manual and paper contracts, terms and condition documents, etc.
intensive, taking a long time as well as increasing the are digitized on the BlockChain and validations
cost of operations. and checks are automated.
Duplication of effort: The lack of technology Document immutability: Immutability feature
integration for due diligence and underwriting causes of the Blockchain eliminates need for multiple
referencing of different applications and sources copies of the same documents being held.
during the process. Document duplication also leads to
risk of fraud.
Delayed settlement cycles: Delayed settlement cycles Reduced settlement periods: Blockchain can
for payments lock up capital and increase default risk. facilitate near real-time loan funding and
payment settlements with activities executed
via smart contracts.
AS IS

TO BE
7.2 Payments

The Indian banking sector has been growing successfully, innovating and trying to adopt and implement
electronic payments to enhance the banking system. Though the Indian payment systems have always been
dominated by paper-based transactions, e-payments are not far behind. Ever since the introduction of e-
payments in India, the banking sector has witnessed growth like never before.

Looking at the nature of today’s payment processing services, it makes it difficult to follow the movements of
money. Even with current Know Your Customer rules, it can be challenging to link the name on a bank account
to an identifiable person or company – though new “beneficial ownership” rules may make it easier in the U.S.
In some countries, secrecy rules prevents banks from revealing financial information about their customers to
foreign regulators.

We have examined this landscape using our assessment framework and find a near-perfect candidate for
adoption of a Blockchain based solution.

Factor Assessment Framework Payments Fit

Intermediary • High fees for intermediary? Yes – intermediaries such as
• Latency due to processing through correspondents, counter-parties
intermediary? increases latency.
• Does the intermediary exist due to
lack of trust?
Transparency • Are multiple participants involved? Yes – applicant, beneficiary, bank,
• Does increase in transparency into correspondents, etc. are involved in
the transaction help the participants? the transaction. Higher transparency
would increase trust in the system,
and speed up the process.
Information • Is the same information being Yes – common information is stored
Storage stored in multiple locations? across the participants such as
• Is data consistency an issue? banks, correspondents, counter-
parties.
Manual • Does the process involve manual Yes – it is required throughout the
Processing operations? lifecycle of the process. Manual
• Is the cost of Reconciliation high? processing is performed by the
correspondents and banks.
Trust • Is there trust among participants? Yes – multiple participants are
• Do multiple participants have the involved in the transactions and
right to modify transactions? make changes/ issue instructions.
• Is there a risk of fraudulent Since these may be unknown to each
transactions? other, there is a lack of trust and
possibility of fraudulent activities.
Documentation • Is the documentation paper-based? No – Large number of documents
• Is there a large number of are required to be generated.
documents / reports required to be
generated?
Time • Will the transactions benefit from Yes – it will help in providing
Sensitivity being real-time or synchronous? enhanced customer experience, and
reduce the exposure risk of banks.
 Current Pain Points How Blockchain Can Help
Manual documentation Automated documentation
Time-consuming process Real time settlement of transaction
Lack of mechanism to track throughout the Real time-tracking of transaction
process
Potential of fraud Fraud proof
7.3 KYC

KYC processes are generally repetitive, inconsistent, and duplicated, leading to high administrative overheads
and costs. Currently KYC documents are: i) Collected and stored internally, using a document management
system or internal database ii) Shared with multiple external agencies for validation on an individual basis iii)
Updated by banks in their internal repository upon successful validation and reported to central agencies.
However, initiatives by private entities such as The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication (SWIFT), banking consortiums, and government bodies have led to an upsurge in the
number of KYC registries. These registries act as centralized repositories that store all documents and
information related to KYC compliance, whereas the central registry stores digitized data tagged to a unique
identification number for each customer. Every bank and financial institution has to perform the KYC process
individually and upload the validated information and documents to the central registry. By using the unique ID,
banks can access the stored data to perform due diligence whenever customers request for a new service within
the same banking relationship or from another bank.
Factor Assessment Framework Payments Fit
Intermediary • High fees for intermediary? NO – intermediaries as such are not
• Latency due to processing through present.
intermediary?
• Does the intermediary exist due to
lack of trust?
Transparency • Are multiple participants involved? Yes – applicant, company, bank,
• Does increase in transparency into government, etc. are involved in the
the transaction help the participants? transaction. Higher transparency
would increase trust in the system,
and speed up the process.
Information • Is the same information being Yes – common information is stored
Storage stored in multiple locations? across the participants such as
• Is data consistency an issue? banks, companies, government.
Manual • Does the process involve manual Yes – it is required while verifying
Processing operations? the documents. Manual processing is
• Is the cost of Reconciliation high? performed by everyone who accepts
KYC.
Trust • Is there trust among participants? Yes – multiple participants are
• Do multiple participants have the involved in the transactions and
right to modify transactions? make changes/ issue instructions.
• Is there a risk of fraudulent Since these may be unknown to each
transactions? other, there is a lack of trust and
possibility of fraudulent activities.
Documentation • Is the documentation paper-based? Yes – The applicant statements are
• Is there a large number of all paper-based. This is not due to
documents / reports required to be regulatory reporting requirements.
generated?
Time • Will the transactions benefit from Yes – it will help in providing
Sensitivity being real-time or synchronous? enhanced customer experience, and
reduce the exposure risk of banks.
Current Pain Points How Blockchain Can Help
Data integration Intra-bank applications
Expensive technology Inter-bank applications
Evolving regulation Centralized blockchain-based KYC
Fragmented approach Fraud proof
KYC – using Blockchain Technology
 8. NEW CONCERNS RELATED TO IMPLEMENTATION OF BLOCK CHAIN

8.1 Integration concern

Blockchain applications offer solutions that require significant changes or complete replacement of existing
systems. In order to make the switch, financial institutions must strategize the transition.
8.2 Control, Security, and Privacy
While private or permission blockchain and strong encryption exist, there are still cyber security concerns that
need to be addressed before the general public will entrust their personal data to a blockchain solution.
(i) Ledger Level Security: Membership to the blockchain needs to be restricted to participants who have
been subject to required scrutiny. Typically, members will be institutions who have real world legal
credentials and are unlikely to disengage (as opposed to retail users who can withdraw from
participation).
(ii) Network Level Security: Blockchain systems typically consist of multiple subcomponents in addition to
the blockchain software – these may include conventional “shadow” databases, messaging, and other
services. It is recommended that communication between components of different nodes is made secure
from a networking stand point. The network must be resistant to many different attack vectors, both
external and internal to the network.
(iii)Transaction Level Security: Transaction level security is critical for financial institutions. Transaction
accuracy and immutability is what drives the firm's books and records. Relevant details of transactions
must be encrypted using PKI concepts so that transaction details are not compromised to unintended
parties.
(iv) Contract Security: Smart contracts (also called self-executing contracts, blockchain contracts, or digital
contracts) are simply computer programs that act as agreements where the terms of the agreement can be
pre-programmed with the ability to self-execute and self-enforce. Smart contracts are written using
programming languages such as C++, JavaScript, Java, Go, Python, etc. As with any computer program,
there is a possibility that the creator of the contract program intentionally or otherwise creates a flawed
program which can introduce vulnerabilities for the assets controlled by the contract
8.3 Uncertain regulatory status
If the government regulation status remains unsettled, blockchain will face a hurdle in widespread adoption by
financial institutions
8.4 Nascent/ Experimental Stage
While most of the banks have started experimenting or developing proofs-of- concept around blockchain, there
it ill are not any major breakthroughs in blockchain applications in the real sense.
8.5 Cultural adoption
Blockchain represents a complete shift to a decentralized network which requires the buy-in of its users and
operators.
8.6 Initial Cost
Blockchain offers tremendous savings in transaction costs and time but the high initial capital costs could be a
deterrent, which is a major concern for banks.

9. CONCLUSION
Although the potential of Blockchain is widely claimed to be at par with early commercial Internet, banking
firms needs to understand the key features of the technology and how it can solve the current business issues as
on one hand, internet enabled exchange of data while on other, the Blockchain can involve exchange of value.
Banks need to identify opportunities, determine feasibility and impact, and test proof of concepts.
However, the questions around regulations will have to be resolved through focused discussions with competent
regulatory authorities and incorporation of their thought-process. . They concluded that regulators should
engage, intervene at early stage and shape the innovation. This will allow them to understand the technology,
assess the risk, and enable the tailor made solutions to their specific obstacles.
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