ICICI Bank executes India’s first Blockchain transaction in partnership with Emirates NBD

Technology is revolutionizing every segment and domain of our present life. The financial sector too isn’t any different, taking massive steps with new innovative tech solutions.

In a proud moment for Indian banking system, ICICI Bank, one of the largest private banks in the country, on Wednesday announced successful transactions in international trade finance and remittance using blockchain technology with active support from Dubai’s Emirates NBD.

Blockchain is an open, distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of records called ‘blocks’ which are secured from tampering and revision. This database then acts as a public ledger for users and banks who are able to connect to the network and complete desired transactions.

This technology simplifies the process and drastically reduces the duration of the transaction to few minutes, compared with few days otherwise.

“I envision that the emerging technology of Blockchain will play a significant role in banking in the coming years by making complex bilateral and multilateral banking transactions seamless, quick and more secure,” said Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank.

ICICI Bank is the first Indian bank to have successfully executed these pilot transactions via its blockchain network in partnership with Emirates NBD on a tailored application — co-developed by EdgeVerve Systems, an Infosys subsidiary.

The pilot transaction was executed to showcase confirmation of import of shredded steel melting scrap by a Mumbai-based export-import firm from a Dubai-based supplier. The second initiative pertained to a transaction on the Blockchain application that enabled an ICICI Bank branch in Mumbai to remit funds to an Emirates NBD branch in Dubai in real time.

It could do so as the Blockchain technology is equipped to send a real time financial message to the recipient bank allowing the remittance transaction to take place instantly.

Blockchain basically allows one to change the age-old process of maintaining a ledger that can be accessed only by one party and instead puts in place a distributed ledger that allows a participatory model.