SBI will start using blockchain technology for ‘smart contracts’ and KYC from next month

State Bank of India has announced that it will start integrating **blockchain technology** in products starting next month as part of a beta test. According to the announcement, the company will roll out blockchain-enabled ‘smart contracts’ from next month as a public beta. [caption id=“attachment_4025455” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image.[/caption] ‘Smart contracts’ are just normal contracts which use a decentralised and distributed ledger. The agreements and code are public, hence, traceable and irreversible. According to a report by The Economic Times, the company will rollout blockchain-enabled KYC, Know Your Customer. The report pointed out that both these features are a part of ‘BankChain’, a community of 27 banks who have joined hands to explore blockchain technology and build banking solutions based on it. According to the report, the community of Banks was formed back in February and SBI was the first member to join it. It has teamed with ‘Primechain Technologies’, a Pune-based startup specialising in blockchain.

While speaking to The Economic Times, Sudin Baraokar, head of innovation at SBI added, “By next month, we should have two beta production solutions ready for use by the 27 banks. We will also invite further participation. The beta production that will be ready are smart contracts and second is KYC.” He went on to add, “BankChain is a big move. It is getting all banks together and collaborating. It is also de-risking our investment in emerging tech so that all banks can come and invest at once… we can also share knowledge and reduce the cost."