Major tech firm IBM has recently partnered with multiple financial services firms to launch a live pilot for a blockchain-powered platform to streamline bank guarantee process.

Specifically, IBM has collaborated with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Commonwealth Bank, real estate operator Scentre Group, and Australia’s first bank Westpac. Dubbed as Lygon, the platform will run in 8 weeks for a test group of retail property leasing clients beginning last Wednesday. 

The blockchain-based platform aims to digitize the way bank guarantees are issued and managed in the retail property lease sector. The change will help enhancing security and transparency while reducing fraud risks and decreasing potential errors.

“The current paper-based process is a pain point for us and for our retail partners because of the time involved and the manual nature of the process, taking valuable time away from focusing on customers,” Jon Papagiannis, Scentre Group Director of Leasing and Retail Solutions, told the Australian Financial Review.

After the pilot program, Lygon is going to extend the range of digitized bank guarantees it supports and to offer its services to other industries. 

“We have created a blockchain-based platform to digitize the bank guarantee ecosystem. The pilot will test live transactions using distributed ledger to prove the technology is commercially viable. It is a great example of digital transformation that refines the customer experience.”stated Didier Van Not, general manager of Corporate and Institutional Banking at Westpac.

In March, IBM has reportedly announced that it has signed letters of intent with six global banks to issue their own stablecoins backed by their national fiat currencies on its global payment network, IBM Blockchain World Wire (BWW). 

Earlier, the new blockchain-powered scheme, which is powered by Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Fabric and built on IBM Blockchain system, has been released, which allowed major companies to trace the flow of cobalts across the supply chain in near real-time with the effort to meet responsible sourcing standards.