Banking giant HSBC this week launched the Digital Accounts Receivable Tool (DART) for its corporate clients in India.
The new tool has been developed using tokenization technology from Australian fintech startup Identitii. Payment Products Head of HSBC’s Asia-Pacific branch, Nicholas Soo said that the tool helps address a key pain point in receivables by "digitising the client experience and creating an ecosystem where our clients and their customers connect to improve efficiency through the secure exchange of information.”
Founded in 2014, Identitii helps banks and corporates securely exchange information about the purpose, origin and beneficiaries of financial transactions using a private blockchain network and tokenisation.
According to the press release, HSBC DART's tokenisation technology was developed for the Global Liquidity and Cash Management (GLCM) business of HSBC, under phase one of its existing 2017 Global Framework Agreement.
HSBC DART essentially integrates Identitii's innovative approach to tokenisation with HSBC’s existing receivables technology infrastructure.
The tool uses an “information layer” that facilitates secure communication of information associated with an invoice or payment. In addition, by reducing the dependency on manual processes, it will help streamline client experience and automate the accounts receivable process for the bank's corporate clients and their network of buyers, thereby enhancing working capital efficiency.
Identitii CEO Nick Armstrong also gave his thoughts on this new partnership, putting an emphasis on the implications of DART. He seems particularly excited with the fact that this is the first time in the banking industry that such development occurred.
“HSBC’s DART is an industry first. It is the culmination of innovative work undertaken by both Identitii and HSBC to solve a particular challenge in how corporates and banks communicate and reconcile financial messages,” Armstrong said.
“HSBC DART improves the entire accounts receivables process for corporate clients by boosting working capital efficiency and providing increased data integrity and security. We look forward to providing updates as this product is expanded into new markets.”
Following the initial rollout in India, HSBC plans to launch HSBC DART in other Asian markets.
[Correction: Some parts of the article have been re-written to mention that HSBC is using Identitii's tokenisation technology, not blockchain as mentioned previously.]
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