Wirecard has created a blockchain-based B2B application to streamline payments for merchants buying raw materials like coffee, crude oil and steel.
The solution builds on the German company's existing digital payments and banking platform, capturing all business processes in so-called smart contracts—digital contracts based on blockchain—so payments can be made with no additional steps, Wirecard said in a Thursday press release.
The approach minimizes the risk of fraud by transparently drawing up contracts and mapping them in a centralized database, eliminating the need for verifying processes with faxed and written documents, Wirecard said in the release.
“Within the framework of the private blockchain technology, Wirecard initially maps the possibility of direct interaction via a platform as well as the possibility for payments,” said Jörn Leogrande, executive vice president of Wirecard Labs, in the release. The technology can also be used for tracking loyalty and managing KYC data in emerging markets, among other applications, he added.
