French multinational bank BNP Paribas has announced that it is currently working with a number of clients to co-develop new products and services based on blockchain technology, in order to optimise the Trade Finance and Cash Management activities of BNP Paribas Group clients.

Earlier in February, the bank announced the successful completion of its first Blockchain Bizhackathon on Transaction Banking activities. It has been investigating blockchain technology since 2011 and said that it has initiated a Group-wide drive to digitize all its activities. In early 2016, the Transaction Banking team at the Group’s Corporate & Institutional Banking (CIB) division started looking into potential applications of the blockchain technology at its various businesses.

According to the official announcement, BNP Paribas is currently working with a number of corporate clients, including Solvay, Sucafina, Pacorini Group and the DFDS Group, on various projects in this field, such as:

Cash Without Borders: Using the Blockchain approach, the solution is designed to improve the customer experience in the field of international payments, which includes avoiding delays, unexpected costs and/or processing errors, by providing compensation, settlement and reporting in real time, plus also optimised visibility on, and accessibility to, cash flow.

Smart LC (Letter of Credit): It uses blockchain technology to enable faster, simpler and more secure processing of Letters of Credit, by replacing quantities of paper-based commercial documents with digital flows.

Collat’Shaker: It applies blockchain technology to enable more efficient collateral management in international trade operations involving commodities, by providing a common status on the transaction to all participants in the deal. Each participant can then update this status in real time, thus enabling fast, simple and accurate follow-up. 

“We’re delighted with the success of this first-ever Bizhackathon, which resulted in these innovative projects, all sharing one basic feature – that they are being co-developed hand-in-hand with our clients”, Jacques Levet, Head of Transaction Banking, EMEA at BNP Paribas stated. “Based on the highly-promising Blockchain technology, these projects stem from close collaboration between BNP Paribas transversal teams, our clients and Blockchain experts. Their aim is to enhance the user experience of corporate Treasurers by providing them with optimal financial services which, inter alia, improve the reliability, traceability and security of their transactions.”

BNP Paribas is also participating in the French Labchain and international R3 Blockchain projects and in February 2016 took a stake in blockchain startup Digital Asset Holdings.