Yesterday JP Morgan unveiled an upgrade to its Interbank Information Network (IIN), which has been renamed to Liink. The solution started out in 2017, focusing on data exchange relating to compliance for payments, more specifically compliance queries.
The latest features address other issues that could hold up cross border payments. Confirm 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.
According to JP Morgan, there are now 400 banks involved in Liink, including 27 of the biggest 50. The solution leverages the Quorum permissioned blockchain, which JP Morgan initially developed but recently transferred to ConsenSys.
Christine Moy used to lead the Quorum team and now heads up Liink. “We’re excited about this next phase of growth and we intend to bring additional next-generation products and services to Liink participants in the coming months,” said Moy.
SWIFT payments of old suffered from payment delays and it wasn’t always clear what the hold up was. However, it rolled out SWIFT gpi, which enabled tracking. Still, it was hard to resolve queries and the cost of these are significant. That’s where Liink filled a definite gap.
However, after the launch of JP Morgan’s IIN or Liink, in May 2019 SWIFT launched its case resolution service. While it doesn’t use blockchain, it claims to serve substantially the same purpose, and SWIFT boasts 4,000 users of its SWIFT gpi. It’s also rolling out a validation service this year.
Meanwhile, yesterday CNBC revealed that the digital currency JPM Coin was in production and JP Morgan has a new digital brand Onyx. “Liink as a new brand comes at a pivotal time, as we look to re-architect how money, information and assets move across the globe,” said Umar Farooq, CEO of Onyx.
