Three of the country's top banks say they have agreed to partner with IBM and shopping centre owner Scentre Group to test blockchain technology to digitise bank guarantees.
The companies are exploring how to move away from paper-based bank guarantees to cut processing time and the risk of fraud, ANZ, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank said in a statement.
A new blockchain platform, Lygon, is being tested on a group of retail property leasing customers in an eight-week pilot program.
"While the pilot is focused on retail property leasing, this technology has the potential to benefit many sectors and reduce the risk of fraud across billions of dollars guaranteed by the banks," Didier Van Not, general manager corporate and institutional banking at Westpac, said in a statement.
Blockchain is an automated, computerised system to share, verify and permanently record data.
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The technology behind cryptocurrencies has been gaining traction among mainstream businesses.
