JPMorgan Blockchain Platform Onboards 75 Multinational Banks to ‘Keep Payments In-House’

JPMorgan has expanded its blockchain payment platform to over 75 multinational banks. The goal of the participants’ combined efforts is to fight off competition from outside of the banking sector, Financial Times reports September 25.

Speaking to the publication, analyst Jason Goldberg said the Interbank Information Network (IIN), under development since October 2017 on JPMorgan’s own Quorum blockchain, was already seeing progress.

Now, Societe Generale and Santander are among the major institutions looking to adopt the platform, which allows banks to share payment information and speed up problematic transactions.

By resolving problems through transparency of reliable information, banks can compete with the emerging private sector dedicated to processing cross-border payments faster than they traditionally can.

“Payment is one of the segments banks worry most about in terms of ceding to non-bank competition,” Goldberg said.

“Blockchain is a way to keep more of that (payments business) in-house.”

JPMorgan is famously risk-averse on the topic of cryptocurrency, with blockchain nonetheless forming a central focus of its innovation drive. In August, the company’s CIO Lori Beer forecast that blockchain would “replace existing technology” within a matter of “a few years.”

JPMorgan began testing the IIN in April with partners including Goldman Sachs, Pfizer Inc and the National Bank of Canada.