ABN Amro to roll out blockchain and IoT platform for commodities industry

Dutch bank ABN Amro announced on Friday that it plans to launch a digital blockchain platform that aims to securely and effectively manage post-trade processing of commodity transactions.

The new platform, called Forcefield, leverages blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and near-field communication (NFC) chips to provide real-time trade inventory insights, the bank announced on its press release. Using this system, inventories such as loan collaterals are monitored effectively, which result in a more secure physical handling and cost-efficient process.

“We are very happy to be among the companies behind Forcefield,” Karin Kersten, Managing Director of Trade & Commodity Finance, said. “This will strengthen the entire commodity trading supply chain. Parties involved will benefit from more effective controls, greater efficiency, transparency, and traceability.”

Forcefield is a standalone product funded and developed over the past 12 months with Accenture as the technology provider. Now formed as an independent company, Forcefield will initially focus on refined materials but will be extended on other dry bulk commodities. This innovative digital platform is designed to manage the entire supply chain life cycle to enhance security, manage related processes efficiently, and reduce risk and cost of physically handling inventories.

“Forcefield has been designed by market experts to address common industry pain points in a targeted manner,” Mark Bradley, who has been coordinating Forcefield on behalf of the consortium members.

Accenture, Anglo American, CMST International, Hartree Partners, ING Bank, Macquarie, Mercuria, and OCBC Bank are among the companies that signed up to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to launch Forcefield.

“Forcefield’s focus on securing inventory should promote industry growth to the benefit of all in the supply chain while also allowing a platform for senior industry players to drive forward the important environmental, social, and governance agenda,” Marco Dunand, Mercuria co-founder and CEO, said as quoted by PR Newswire.

Meanwhile, ABN Amro also recently acquired a stake in US technology company Tealium. The fund from the latter's Series F funding round will be used to enhance global go-to-market activities and accelerate product innovation for its AudienceStream real-time customer data platform.

In addition, the bank said that being a shareholder gives them immediate access to Tealium’s ecosystem of investors that include Bain Ventures, Battery Ventures, Citi Ventures, and Silver Lake.