IBM is expanding the availability of its near real-time cross-border payments system for regulated financial institutions.
The American IT group is increasing initiatives around decentralized transaction management technology. IBM Blockchain World Wire is part of.
This near real-time cross-border payment system for regulated financial institutions was unveiled last September. It can now be activated in 72 countries, across 47 currencies and 44 bank endpoints, according to the firm.
“World Wire provides a more direct model for cross-border payments using the Stellar point-to-point money transfer protocol, rather than the complexities of traditional banking,” the group said in a statement. This approach “cuts down on middlemen and allows users to speed up settlement time by transmitting monetary value in the form of digital assets – cryptocurrencies or ‘stablecoins’.”
Stablecoins
At the origin of the project, IBM therefore joined forces with Stellar, creator of the Lumens (XLM) cryptocurrency, and the dollar-backed stablecoin project Stronghold. And this to build the technical base (backbone) of its system of cross-border bank payments. Emerging markets are the first to be targeted.
Blockchain World Wire is designed “to accelerate remittances, transform cross-border payments, and facilitate the flow of money to countries that need it most,” said Marie Wieck, Managing Director of IBM Blockchain. “By creating a network in which financial institutions manage multiple digital assets, we also hope to spur innovation and improve financial inclusion around the world. “
Six international banks, including Banco Bradesco (Brazil), Busan Bank (South Korea) and RCBC (Philippines), all three cited by IBM, are awaiting regulatory approvals to issue their own stablecoins (cryptocurrencies backed by a currency like the dollar or the euro to resist market volatility) on World Wire.
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