IBM launches blockchain pilot to transform bank guarantee processes with four Australian companies

Tech giant IBM in partnership with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Commonwealth Bank, real estate operator Scentre Group, and Australia’s first bank Westpac has launched a live pilot for a new blockchain-based platform to streamline bank guarantee processes.

Dubbed as Lygon, the platform is expected to run for 8 weeks for a test group of retail property leasing clients beginning last Wednesday. The blockchain-based platform aims to digitize the way bank guarantees are issued and managed in the retail property lease sector.

“The current paper-based process is a pain point for us and for our retail partners because of the time involved and the manual nature of the process, taking valuable time away from focusing on customers," Jon Papagiannis, Scentre Group Director of Leasing and Retail Solutions, told the Australian Financial Review.

As per its press release, Lygon, which will be operated by Lygon 1B Pty Ltd (the consortium of the five founding members), aims to lessen the risk of fraud, reduce potential errors, and enhance transparency and security while maintaining privacy. It can also reportedly increase the speed of execution, “from up to a month to on or around the same day.”

After the pilot program, Lygon plans to extend the range of digitized bank guarantees it supports and to offer its services to other industries including the retail property sector.

Meanwhile, Warsaw-based Alior Bank is reportedly utilizing the public Ethereum blockchain to verify the documents of its clients. It offers online documentation using a suitably durable medium while still complying with the imposed regulations.