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Kasikornbank will be the first Thai bank to apply the blockchain
technology and aims to start the services in the first half of
2017, Somkid Jiranuntarat, vice chairman of Kasikornbank's
technology group, told reporters.
Kasikornbank is also in talks with other Thai banks to share the
blockchain network, he said.
Blockchain is a web-based transaction-processing and settlement
system whose efficiency banks say could slash costs. It creates
a "golden record" of any given set of data that is automatically
replicated for all parties in a secure network, eliminating any
need for third-party verification.
Financial services companies around the world have been focusing
on developing blockchain technology, with advocates saying it
has the potential to save billions of dollars in costs and speed
up transaction times.
The technology will be used to certify original documents by
using IBM's Hyperledger infrastructure. At the initial stage, a
system called OriginCert API is used to certify letters of
guarantee (LG), which helps simplify and speed up the LG
issuance process for customers, according to a joint statement.
Kasikornbank, Thailand's fourth-largest lender by assets, is the
leader in digital banking with a market share of almost 40
percent. It aimed to spend 5 billion baht ($143 million) to
develop information technology, it said in April.
(Reporting by Manunphattr Dhanananphorn; Writing by Khettiya
Jittapong; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
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