IBM has successfully completed the Phase I proof-of-concept (POC) of its Shared Corporate Know Your Customer (KYC) project.

The project is being conducted in collaboration with Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and the Treasuries of Cargill, IBM. The POC showed how the blockchain-based IBM Shared KYC platform provides a secure, decentralized and efficient mechanism for banks to collect, validate, store, share, and refresh trusted KYC information of corporate customers.

The objectives of the project are to define harmonized standards for the collection and validation of certain core documents and information agreeable to all bank participants, eliminate repetition of mundane documentary tasks, create a sharing economy environment, digitize all corporate KYC information, and increase transparency and trust. The blockchain-based system will result in operational savings and, over time, reduced operational risk.

The technology-focused POC marked the first phase of the project.

“Through this collaboration, IBM has established client provisioned and consented sharing of KYC information and securing documents with encryption. Network trust is established through digitally verified documents on the Blockchain and the underlying consensus protocols,” the official release stated.

For the governance of the shared KYC network, regular certification of contributing banks will be conducted to ensure their compliance with the harmonized standards.