Italian banks are turning to blockchain technology to heighten the double-verification of transaction logs.
The blockchain being used by the Italian banks is the Corda blockchain. Reports say that a full 85% of banks in the country have made the transition to using the blockchain.
Entering the second trial phase
Silvia Attanasio, the head of the Italian Banking Association (ABI), says distributed ledger technology will be the instrument of changing the method of interbank reconciliation and data exchange technology. Attanasio adds that such a transformation is needed.
Accordingly, bank reconciliation is:
“[…] the process by which the bank account balance in an entity’s books of account is reconciled to the balance reported by the financial institution. Any difference between the two figures needs to be examined and, if appropriate, rectified.”
The use of blockchain technology in interbank reconciliation is entering its second trial phase. The first phase took place back in 2018 when Italy’s second major bank and 13 other banks took part.
As for the second phase, 55 banks are part of the trial and using the Corda blockchain. A third trial phase is set to begin in October with the hope of having 80 to 100 banks taking part.
The use of the Corda blockchain marks a vast improvement over the previous system. Attanasio notes that the old system was hectic and unpredictable. However, the Corda blockchain allows interbank reconciliation to be completed within a day.
#Huawei Technologies revealed it has applied for new patents related to #blockchain technology storage methods and devices, Chinese corporate database Tianyancha showed. Huawei has held multiple patents in this area like data archiving and settlement methods based on blockchain. pic.twitter.com/dvDE9Q3363
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) July 27, 2020
Huawei announces blockchain technology patent
Huawei, the Chinese tech giant, recently announced a patent for distributed ledger technology that deals with “blockchain ledger storage and device.” The patent was filed on January 17, 2019, but the actual announcement date was set for July 14 of this year.
Huawei had already entered into a cooperation agreement with the People’s Bank of China, but the details of that agreement are not known. The agreement was announced just after the People’s Bank of China began to test its bank-issued digital currency.
There has been growing concern by the United States and some of its allies that Huawei could pose a massive security risk due to its equipment possibly being used by China for espionage. The United Kingdom has banned the company outright, and other European nations are taking a closer look at relying upon Huawei for their 5G networks.
The European Commission recently released a report on restricting “high risk” suppliers. The report states, “Most Member States have not yet established or communicated clear plans to effectively address existing situations of dependency on high-risk suppliers and prevent future dependencies. Progress is urgently needed to mitigate this important risk.”
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