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Brazilian Banking Giant Banco Bradesco & Toyota Financial Services Join the R3 Blockchain Consortium

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Samburaj Das
Last Updated

Banco Bradesco, one of Brazil’s largest banking and financial services firms has joined the R3-led banking blockchain consortium, R3CEV. So too, has Toyota Financial Services, the financial arm of automotive giant Toyota Motor Corporation.

A leading Brazilian bank has joined the banking blockchain consortium led by New York-based R3, an announcement today revealed. Banco Bradesco now becomes the second bank from Brazil, after Itaú Unibanco to join a consortium that counts 50 of the world’s largest banks and financial firms as its members.

Itaú is also the largest private sector bank in Latin America, while Banco Bradesco is among the top three largest banks by assets in Brazil.

In statements after joining R3, Maurício Machado de Minas, Executive Vice President at Banco Bradesco, stated:

Innovation plays a crucial role at Bradesco and we are committed to better serve our customers and add value to our shareholders. Distributed ledger technologies can help us achieve these objectives and we are excited about joining R3, so that we can work together and discover the full potential of this new technology.

R3 CEO David Rutter pointed to the furthering reach of the R3 consortium as it adds members globally, adding that Latin America was an “important region” for the group while it seeks to develop blockchain applications for financial markets.

In recent times, R3 has notably added the first ever Chinese member to the blockchain consortium, the Ping An Financial Services Group. The financial services firm is China’s second largest insurer and came soon after Brazilian bank’s Itaú inclusion to the group. The recent trend suggests a wider outlook for R3, while it welcomes banks and financial institutions from economies and regions beyond the traditional powerhouses of finance.

Blockchain-Powered Auto Manufacturing?

Last week, Toyota Financial Services (Toyota FS), the finance-based subsidiary of the Toyota Motor Corporation has also joined R3, making it the first automotive financial services provider to do so.

Toyota FS will join banking, insurance and finance giants around the world in researching and developing blockchain-based solutions at R3’s Lab and Research Center, where prototypes and new pilot solutions are frequently tested.

Understandably, Toyota FS will be looking for blockchain solutions in the auto industry. Chris Ballinger, CEO and global chief officer for strategic innovation at Toyota FS stated:

We believe this technology will ultimately lower costs, increase efficiency and make auto finance more transparent for our customers.

He also hinted at the ways in which distributed ledger technology could benefit the automotive industry as a whole, beyond auto finance.

[W]e believe additional applications of the technology in auto manufacturing and sales will benefit our customers by making mobility more affordable and available.

Featured image from Shutterstock.