A joint effort by major banks in south-east Asia has led to a successful blockchain-powered cross-border funds transfer in real-time from Thailand to Singapore.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya – commonly referred to as Krungsri – revealed a successful pilot test involving an international remittance from a domestic bank account to a Standard Chartered account in Singapore using its own blockchain, dubbed the Krungsri Blockchain Ledger.
The endeavor involved major Japanese multinational Mitsubishi Corporation, independent group company and Japan’s largest bank MUFG – which operates independently, and Singapore-based banking giant Standard Chartered. Notably, the blockchain pilot was conducted under the guidelines of the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox.
In the pilot, the bank claims its blockchain enabled a transfer of funds from a Krungsri account belonging to a Thailand-based Mitsubishi subsidiary to the Standard Chartered account of a Singapore-based Mitsubishi subsidiary in “a matter of seconds.”
In a statement, Krungsri head of digital banking and innovation Thakorn Piyapan said:
“[T]he technology-based transaction helps enhance their subsidiaries’ financial liquidity toward greater flexibility and efficiency.”
Krungsri, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MUFG, is the latest Thai bank to successfully trial blockchain technology for remittance ahead of adoption. Nearly a year ago, Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) collaborated with Japan’s SBI Remit to launch a retail remittance bank service powered by Ripple’s blockchain tech. With nearly 50,000 Thai nationals living and working in Japan, the remittance corridor between the two countries sees approximately $250 million in transfers each year.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
Samburaj is Editor of CCN.com, one of the earliest and foremost publications covering blockchain, and financial technology news. Now focusing on Markets, Showbiz, Sports, and Gaming. He has authored over 2,000 articles for CCN.com. Reach him at [email protected]. Visit his LinkedIn profile here.
