The frequency with which the blockchain technology has been successfully applied by financial institutions has increased in 2019. With each passing day, more banks experiment with it and take advantage of its transparency and efficiency to come up with payments platforms and other related services that represent an upgrade when compared to older, traditional methods.
A case that has made the news this week has been that of German bank Commerzbank, a top institution in the field in the European nation. The company recently developed a blockchain-powered system that facilitates machine to machine payments.
Paying for Power Charging Between Machines: No Humans!
The potential applications are something to dream about. To be more specific, the product developed by Commerzbank will be used to let automated trucks to pay for power charging without the need of having a single human being involved in the whole operation.
The German institution has called the development a “concrete pilot project” so far: the firm worked alongside its incubator research and development unit, with the involvement of Daimler Trucks also a notable fact.
According to Commerzbank, the project recently announced “deals with fully automated payment processing of charges between a tank charging station for electricity and a lorry system.” It is certainly a step in the right direction in the quest for automation in the automotive industry.
It Has already Been Tested
The announcement made this week by Commerzbank clearly states that the associates and partners of the project have already tested the system and it is fully functioning. When performing test transactions, the financial institution sent euros to Daimler Trucks via its innovative blockchain product.
The release did not provide lenghty or specific details about how the system works. It is not clear the way that euros pass through the network, or the manner in which the charging station gets and processes the payment.
The release explains that machines of that kind are growing “increasingly interconnected and increasingly autonomous.” It observes that it is becoming necessary to achieve mutual settlements without the involvement of the human being.
A Renewed Interest in Blockchain Affairs
“Current payment systems can not yet map such a fully automated payment process,” the Commerzbank realized. Stephan Muller, who is currently the divisional board member of transaction banking at Commerzbank, the system is the result of an renewed interest in blockchain technology by the bank.
“Following the recent digitization of securities transactions and the use of blockchain technology, we are now focusing on DLT-based payment structures. As a bank, we naturally also see our mission as creating new digital payment architectures for our customers,” he stated.
By Andres Chavez
