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To be precise, the partnership is looking to build a prototype that combines distributed ledger technology (DLT) and standard procedures to ease the transfer of large sums of money.
With the current payment settlement infrastructure being "highly complex and fragmented," Accenture believes that DLT can significantly improve efficiency and security of the processes.
Accenture, SAP, and R3 have teamed up to build a real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system that will enable faster, more efficient, reliable and secure payments between banks and customers. According to a press release, the platform will allow for integration and interoperability between DLT-based and traditional government-issued payments and settlements.
What’s more, the prototype will be using currency tokens as opposed to digital currencies as it can be used as a stand-in for standard central bank fiat currency, further strengthened by the utilization of cryptography. This is significant since it’ll allow banks to maintain its current payment format, while simultaneously providing the necessary malleability to adopt new ways of transacting payments.
The collaboration
For starters, the prototype will be using SAP’s Payment Engine application that acts as a central hub for the processes from payment all the way to settlement. To allow interactions with the RTGS, it will be integrating with R3’s Corda – an open-source blockchain platform.
This isn’t Corda’s first rodeo with the big leagues as R3 has been collaborating with other businesses to conduct transactions via smart contracts and streamlining operations through the digital space. As for Accenture, it will be lending its expertise on both banking and blockchain tech, with the ultimate goal of achieving almost instantaneous settlements for high-valued transactions.
Accenture’s managing director and global blockchain technology leader John Velissarios has expressed his confidence about the project’s promise.
“Because the current payment settlement infrastructure is highly complex and fragmented, RTGS systems that leverage DLT and cryptographically secure tokenized payments can help central banks improve efficiency and security. The RTGS prototype, designed in collaboration with SAP and R3, demonstrates the next stage of efficiency in payment systems and ultimately, paves the way to linking to tokenized-assets, like equities, to create an increasingly integrated and seamless financial services ecosystem,” Velissarios said.
