Barclays Data Officer acknowledges blockchain technology at SWIFT Forum

Speaking at the SWIFT Business Forum London, Usama Fayyad, chief data officer at Barclays, characterised the blockchain technology as "transformative" and he believes that though bitcoin is interesting, it may not remain the most compelling use case in the future.

"Underneath [bitcoin] lies the technology of the blockchain and I think that will be transformative," he added.

He participated in a panel discussion titled "Harnessing disruptive technology in wholesale financial services", featuring Gottfried Leibbrandt, CEO of SWIFT; Christophe Chazot, group head of innovation at HSBC; Craig Donaldson, CEO of Metro Bank; and Daniel Marovitz, president of Earthport's European division.

He also spoke about his interest in the distributed and secure ledger that can enable exchanging contracts and information while offering the equivalent to a digital signature. Fayyad added that the incorporation of such technology with traditional banking system "will happen".