BNP Paribas joins the R3 blockchain initiative

BNP Paribas places digital at the heart of its business model and strives to continuously improve the digital banking experience for its clients. Today the bank confirms that it has joined R3’s distributed ledger initiative, which aims to establish whether an industry standard can be developed around blockchain technology.

Blockchain technology could be applied to simplify processes in the banking sector particularly within transaction banking, innovative payments, or post-trade activities.

Philippe Denis, responsible for Blockchain at BNP Paribas' CIB business said: “Blockchain has the potential to transform certain processes in the banking sector and improve the way we interact with clients. Within our corporate and institutional bank, we have been looking at Blockchain since 2011, participating in a number of think-tank and industry initiatives. In 2014, we held a business hackathon to better understand the technology and assess its potential. So while it is still a nascent technology, we firmly believe it is worth exploring, and if it proves to be scalable, could benefit the industry as well as our clients.”