HSBC Executive Comments on True Strengths of Blockchain, Citing “Transparency and Savings”

Blockchain technology has been one of the greatest developments to come out of the introduction of cryptocurrency in the last 10 years. While there have been multiple industries that have adopted the technology to support their supply chains and record keeping, the traditional finance world stands to gain a lot from it. Speaking with French publication L'Usine Digitale, Béatrice Collot spoke on the strengths of the fintech product.

Collot, who is better known as the Head of Global Trade and Receivable Finance at HSBC, discussed the different technologies that are thriving right now, including artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things as well. These technologies are growing in their value to trade finance, which she discussed in reference to the IN Banque conference that is planned to take place in Paris in the coming days.

Speaking of blockchain technology, Collot believes that two main ecosystems could easily be combined in trade finance, which is the financial ecosystem and the supply chain ecosystem. With a platform in the financial industry with both of these components, there would be fewer problems that ultimately keep operations from functioning at their best capacity.

Collot commented,

“Thus, transparency and instantaneity are the true strengths of the blockchain and should generate not only significant time savings and increased security, but also significant [financial] savings.” Still, the benefits that blockchain offers are potential options right now, since Collot believes that “we are not there yet.” If the technology wants to reach this kind of involvement for trade finance, it “must be widely adopted and interoperable.”

Blockchain companies are available by the hundreds, though the main platforms that Collot has noticed in frequent use are R3’s Corda, Ethereum (ETH), and Hyperledger. Hopefully, she says,

“Maybe in ten years, there will be only one.”

In mid-January, HSBC announced that they would use blockchain to settle $250 billion in foreign exchange trades. The brand has already established their own participation in blockchain trade finance platforms with We.trade, eTradeConnect, and the Voltron trade project from Corda. The Voltron project has been working to make it possible to use blockchain for letters of credit, an effort that has been in the worlds since October last year.