Advertisement
Singapore markets close in 1 hour 55 minutes
  • Straits Times Index

    3,175.35
    +3.42 (+0.11%)
     
  • Nikkei

    40,003.60
    +263.20 (+0.66%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,534.60
    -202.50 (-1.21%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,722.55
    -4.87 (-0.06%)
     
  • Bitcoin USD

    64,643.02
    -3,729.16 (-5.45%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,149.42
    +32.33 (+0.63%)
     
  • Dow

    38,790.43
    +75.63 (+0.20%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    16,103.45
    +130.25 (+0.82%)
     
  • Gold

    2,159.70
    -4.60 (-0.21%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    82.50
    -0.22 (-0.27%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.3400
    0.0000 (0.00%)
     
  • FTSE Bursa Malaysia

    1,548.50
    -5.14 (-0.33%)
     
  • Jakarta Composite Index

    7,342.08
    +39.63 (+0.54%)
     
  • PSE Index

    6,848.43
    -4.86 (-0.07%)
     

Ripple effect: Siam Commercial Bank becomes Thailand’s first bank to invest in blockchain technology

Digital Ventures FINAL

The feasibility programme is a result in SCB’s participation in a US$55 million Series B

Digital Ventures, a fintech subsidiary investment arm of Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), revealed this week it participated in a US$55 million Series B raised by San Francisco-based financial services company Ripple and plans to invest in a blockchain feasibility study.

The amount of Digital Venture’s participation was undisclosed, but the feasibility study will be the first time a Thai bank has invested in “testing of enterprise-grade blockchain technology”.

The goal for the investment is to work towards onboarding an international transaction system that is fast, cost-saving, private and secure.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Blockchain is an exciting, emerging financial technology that is slated to transform the world of financial services and online transactions,” said Thana Thienachariya, the Chairman of the Executive Committee at Digital Ventures in an official statement.

“Through an investment in and pilot program with Ripple, SCB can explore the opportunity in utilizing blockchain to develop new products and services to better serve customers”.

Also Read: Beyond cryptocurrency: How Singapore’s Attores is using blockchain to take the headache out of contracts

Ripple is a B2B financial services company that can not be defined as a ‘blockchain company’. Rather, it is a cross-border payments company that uses a variety of approaches (depending on the client’s needs) to help find low-cost and speedy solutions.

In the case of SCB, the partnership will involve a blockchain feasibility programme.

“When the blockchain network is commercially viable and gets approval from Thai financial regulatory authority in the future, the knowledge base gained from this investment can be integrated to our system, and will bring a significant improvement in the quality of SCB’s international money transfer services through fast, convenient, cost-saving and secure world-class online transaction platform,” said Thienachariya.

Also Read: Blockchain for dummies: A 101 guide to the next hot fintech trend

Ripple’s clients include Standard Chartered Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Westpac, National Australia Bank, Mizuho Financial Group, BMO Financial Group and Shanghai Huarui Bank.

Digital Ventures has US$50 million in its fund and focuses on the fintech space.

The post Ripple effect: Siam Commercial Bank becomes Thailand’s first bank to invest in blockchain technology appeared first on e27.