Blockchain

There has been a lot of activity lately around modernizing cross-border transfers through the use of blockchain and and cloud-hosted technology, but despite the potential savings in cost and time, none of these methods has caused a meaningful decline in the use of cash.

Using a program built by Ripple, BBVA has transferred about 50 euro-denominated payments to Mexico from Spain in seconds. Such transactions normally take up to four days to clear, the bank said.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Spain’s No. 2 lender, has executed its first cross-border payments through a system based on the software that supports bitcoin.

Ripple's distributed ledger platform has fed an appetite for cheaper and more efficient cross-border payments, but it may not measure up to the needs of a larger market. Ripple wants to scale its payment system to something resembling a large card network.

The bank said the test showed blockchain can be used to conduct secure, low-cost cross-border payments without intermediaries.

The blockchain-based platform, set to launch later this year, promises to make gold trading around the world faster, more transparent and safer.

Five banks and the tech firms R3 and HQLA^X are using distributed ledger technology to make it easier to transfer liquid securities and collateral.

Genpact's new platform promises to reduce the number of past-due invoices to less than 3% in most companies.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s head of new technologies has been hired by Lending Club Corp. as the peer-to-peer lending pioneer seeks to rebuild business following a scandal over its corporate controls.

Coordinators of a blockchain project backed by the financial industry say they have successfully demonstrated that the distributed ledger technology can be used to syndicate, trade and make payments on leveraged loans.