Today India’s Economic Times reported that the State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s biggest bank, has signed up for JP Morgan‘s Liink blockchain solution. Previously known as the Interbank Information Network, Liink is a payments messaging network that enables banks to quickly resolve queries that delay cross-border payments.
“We are excited to be the first bank in India to go live on the network and look forward to closer partnership with JP Morgan on implementation and exploring application as part of the network to better serve our clients,” said Venkat Nageswarhe, Deputy MD at SBI.
Four months ago, JP Morgan unveiled a Liink upgrade. New features include ‘Confirm’ that allows account information to be validated before the payment is initiated. And ‘Format’ involves ensuring the payment message aligns with specific country or currency requirements.
To date, more than 400 banks have signed up to Liink, including 27 of the largest 50. Of these, more than a hundred have gone live.
While JP Morgan expands its network, SWIFT is rolling out solutions to try to address the issues JP Morgan has identified. It launched SWIFT gpi to give greater transparency into hold-ups in cross border payments. And more recently launched a case resolution service.
Meanwhile, JP Morgan has set up a separate blockchain division Onyx and is rolling out other solutions, including JPM Coin, which is being used for an interbank payments network in Singapore and a repo solution.
