Infosys Finacle partners ICICI Bank and Emirates NBD to pilot blockchain

EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly owned product subsidiary of Infosys and ICICI Bank and Emirates NBD today announced the pilot launch of blockchain network for international remittances and trade finance.

Both, Emirates NBD and ICICI Bank run Finacle solutions suite and have leveraged the blockchain framework to route business transaction between the two entities for remittances and trade finance business.

Using the EdgeVerve Blockchain Framework for Financial Services, the network was successfully piloted on the UAE-India remittance corridor, one of the busiest corridors for both banks. According to the World Bank, this corridor is the largest receiver of remittances with a share of close to $70 billion out of the $580+ billion world over.

With this, Emirates NBD became the first bank in UAE and ICICI Bank, the first bank in India, to pilot a blockchain-based network for financial services. The exercise was started eight weeks ago and additional use cases are being explored for the pilot. Both financial institutions have started the process towards a network consortium for further participation by interested member banks to expand the transaction network.

Considering its strong presence in the financial industry through Finacle suite of solutions, Emirates NBD and ICICI Bank chose to partner with EdgeVerve for the pilot. This framework is a permissioned asset-agnostic ledger, designed specifically for the banking sector.

Dr Vishal Sikka, chief executive officer & managing director, Infosys said, "We are delighted to partner with ICICI Bank and Emirates NBD, who are innovation leaders in their respective regions. With this pilot, we are clearly a step closer to see mainstream adoption of blockchain-based applications. We look forward to further collaborations with our clients and other banks to create a blockchain-powered consortium in the financial services industry.”

Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman, Emirates NBD said, "Our pilot project with Infosys Finance and ICICI bank, a first for the banking sector in the UAE, demonstrates blockchains immense potential to change how organizations and governments conduct business."

Chanda Kochhar, managing director & CEO, ICICI Bank said, "I am delighted that we are the first bank in India and among few globally to set up a blockchain application. We have also marked a milestone by piloting a blockchain network with Emirates NBD and Infosys Finacle as partners and have successfully executed cross-border open account trade finance and remittance transactions. Going forward, we also intend to work on expanding the blockchain ecosystem and create common working standards to contribute to the commercial adoption of this initiative.”