Tencent To Use Blockchain For Expense Reimbursement

Samuel Larreal
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Tencent To Use Blockchain For Expense Reimbursement

     Tencent, the Chinese, multinational technology company, is one of the biggest tech manufacturers in the world, with assets in almost every recognized company related to electronics, software, and hardware among others. In recent months they have expressed interest in blockchain technology, saying it could be useful in streamlining and reducing time and cost of different financial processes.

The WeChat app (Tencent’s equivalent to WhatsApp) may be a vehicle to simplifying the process of expense reimbursement using blockchain technology. According to a recent entry posted on Tencent’s official blog, the company carried out a pilot test with the app in a restaurant in Shenzhen, China where users paid their bill through WeChat Pay (WeChat’s payment service). By introducing the payment information on a private blockchain network where restaurant, Shenzhen tax authority and the user’s employer have access. Tencent was able to eliminate the delays presented in the normal processes when performed manually. The company hopes this system will be widely used in order to make the waiting period for reimbursement of expenses much faster in addition to reducing the amount of false receipts. Currently in China employees must go through a fairly complicated process in which sellers issue a series of payment receipts for individuals and companies. When a staff member needs financial reimbursement for business expenses, they must request a receipt from companies stipulating the exact taxpayer number of their employees.

To do this, employees need the vendor to manually enter the taxpayer number on the receipt at each step of the process. Also, this process is usually followed by other manual tasks, such as collecting the receipts and filling out forms before receiving the refund. According to the Tencent, when carrying out this process through a traceable blockchain, the tax authorities will be able to count on a system that does not require paperwork and the circulation of receipts could be easily traced. At this time, the first batch of vendors that would have integrated this test pilot system includes the parking lot of Bao’An Stadium in Shenzhen, a restaurant owned by Tencent and a car repair center. According to a Tencent statement,

“It is often easy to overestimate the short-term impact of new technologies and underestimate the long-term impact of new technologies, such as the blockchain. And we believe that the influence of a new technology will ultimately depend on what the people who use it can do for everyone.”

 

by Samuel Larreal

Nestle To Use Blockchain To Source Food Ingredients

cwjadmin
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Nestle To Use Blockchain To Source Food Ingredients

     Nestle has joined to the list of companies to take steps towards blockchain adoption. the company is currently developing an initiative that aims to track inputs from the ingredient producers to the supermarkets.

Food Trust, a consortium of 10 companies, developed utilizing IBM blockchain technology and led by Walmart, will lead this initiative, tracking up to 1 million supplies across 50 different categories. Chris Tyas, global head of Nestlé’s supply chain, commented that,

“although we are competitors, we will work together to ensure the trust of our customers.”

As reported by Wall Street Journal, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expressed interest in this project and had already met with Walmart in order to discuss the matter. Categorizing the blockchain technology as “promising”, the commissioner of foods and veterinary medicine of the FDA, Stephen Otroff explained,

“During the recent crisis of the romaine lettuce, we have put too much effort to accumulate information, but it is a process of many days. With the blockchain, we can achieve that in a matter of seconds.”

According to the Washington Post, the incident regarding romaine lettuce would have caused 5 deaths and the hospitalization of more than 200 people in March of this year. After months of research, in June of this year, the FDA would have managed to trace the incident to the water of a canal in Arizona. However according to Food Trust, by using the blockchain the tracking process would have reduced the process to seconds.

According to Tyas,

“People want to know exactly where the ingredients of the food they give their babies come from. We want to make people trust these products.”

A pilot test is already being run by Nestle by tracking canned pumpkins through Food Trust’s network, and it is exponentially simplifying the tracking process. For the next tests, they plan to work together with producers and processors of sweet potato, apple and pumpkins for their mixtures of baby purees.

South Korean Company Uses Blockchain To Store DNA Data

Samuel Larreal
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South Korean Company Uses Blockchain To Store DNA Data

     The South Korean biotech giant, Macrogen, is currently developing an genetic data store-system based on blockchain technology, in order to secure and maintain confidentiality of company’s patients information.
Macrogen, which is a provider of DNA sequence services in Seoul, revealed its commercial partnership with the big data firm Bigster , with the purpose of developing a blockchain project for the registration of genomic information, estimated to be fully operational for June 2019.
In the field of medicine, genetics is the field of study that explore and diagnose diseases in patients’ genome, genetic scientists gather information that can be used by pharmaceutical companies and laboratories to create treatments and medicines.
However, despite the range of applications of DNA in modern medicine, it is not safe to share genetic information to the public, as it entails risks to the privacy and health of patients.
According to Yang Kap-seok, CEO of Macrogen: Despite its wide utility, gene data has been difficult to move around due to privacy protection issues and technological barriers. We hope that our upcoming blockchain-based platform will allow health care genet[ic] and medical big data to be circulated freely.”
This platform will function as a blockchain database, to which only invited parties would have access, entities like pharmaceutical companies, research institutes, hospitals and clinics, as well as genetics analysis start-ups.
This is not the first time that a similar project has been developed in the decentralized industry. In this regard, the Indian authority Andhra Pradesh, signed an agreement on March 28, which proposed the creation of a blockchain database to record DNA information. The platform would serve to store DNA data of more than 50 million people in the country

 

by Samuel Larreal

Blockchain Stock Technology In South Korea

Samuel Larreal
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Blockchain Stock Technology In South Korea

South Korean Financial Supervision Services is working on using blockchain technology for stock transactions

According to a recent report from the South Korean Financial Supervision Service (FSS), it is essential for regulatory agencies and local companies to consider starting the development of a blockchain-based Financial Transactions Supervision Service. According to the FSS, this study was made with the propose of “establishing long-term planning and continuing to promote pilot projects” and investigating new applications for blockchain technology in capital markets.

The report states that a blockchain-based system would increase the efficiency, integrity and security of the tracking and storage of stock transactions, exponentially. According to the FSS, centralized ledgers are more vulnerable and less effective in avoiding and neutralizing hacking, cracking and other forms of cyber-delinquency.

The investigation was focused in analysing previous results that international stockbrokers, such as the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia, have obtained with the application of blockchain-based transaction systems.

The Korean authority analysed different companies, consortia, and markets all over the world in order to obtain trustworthy information in different kinds of economics situations and systems. When analyzing the use of technology in the United States, the FSS studied the Nasdaq stock market and the results of the Nasdaq Linq a system designed for maintaining records for internal market.

In countries like the United Kingdom and Japan the investigators analysed the London Stock Exchange Group platform, blockchain technology for the issuance of private shares and a Tokyo-based consortium with the presence of more than 36 financial companies that uses a blockchain-based capital market infrastructure respectively.

In Australia the selected institution was the Australian Securities Exchange and its ongoing plan to completely replace its existing compensation and settlement system with an a distributed ledger alternative.

This can be considered another step forward for blockchain technology as it’s decentralized characteristics are proven to be beneficial for the efficiency and security of financial services.

 

by Samuel Larreal

US Treasury On Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

Samuel Larreal
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US Treasury On Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

US Treasury Department says blockhain and cryptocurrency

“could potentially help reduce fees, processing times, and operational risk for market participants.”

A recent report emitted by the US Treasury Department, has called for more agile and appropriate regulatory policies for innovations in the financial technology sector.
Published on July 31, The 222-page report, dedicated to “Non-Banking Finance, Technology, Finance and Innovation” briefly touches on cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technologies (DLT), such as the blockchain. The report notes that these innovations are being

“explored separately in an inter-agency effort, led by a working group of the Financial Stability Supervisory Board.”

The report calls for “more streamlined and tailored oversight”, proposing a set of recommendations that include the harmonization of legislation on the transfer of money, state by state, which currently apply to cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States.
The document communicates a strong impetus by the US government to promote growing financial technologies and modernizing existing regulatory frameworks, in order to eradicate possible impediments to their evolution.

Interest in cryptocurrency has increased substantially by financial authorities around the world. the US Treasury Deptartment highlights the efforts made by the G20 to establish appropriate metrics for monitoring the emerging sector. According to the report, regulators and authorities must be aware of the inherent risks that cryptocurrencies

“currently pose for the protection of investors and the anti-money laundering and illicit finance regimes,” the report cites a press release from March by the G20, which states “that technological innovation, including that which underlies crypto-assets [sic], has the potential to improve the efficiency and inclusiveness of the financial system.”

The US Treasury Deptartment also recognizes a number of DLT applications that are being developed by the financial services industry, although it remains skeptical about its possible benefits, qualifying them as highly uncertain. Commodities trading and securities settlement […] trusted identity products and services […] [and] the potential for central bank-backed digital currencies, or a “tokenized” form of a fiat currency that utilizes DLT, [which some assert] could potentially help reduce fees, processing times, and operational risk for market participants.” Where some of the principal applications proposed by the report.

In addition, the Treasury encourages efforts to

 

“create labs, working groups, innovation offices, and other channels for industry participants to engage directly with regulators. A ‘symbiotic relationship’ between regulators and innovators “is needed to support the U.S. economy and maintain global competitiveness.”

This last notion is aligned with the recently expressed concerns of the President of the Commodities Futures of Trade Commission of the United States (CFTC), who said in a statement that the United States is falling behind with respect to other countries in the encouragement and promotion of innovation.

The president of the CFTC pointed out that the agency lacked solid legal procedures that, in particular, would allow him to participate directly in the testing of the blockchain test concepts (PoC), even though he has created a LabCFTC dedicated to promoting Innovation in finance technology.

 

by Samuel Larreal

Australian Bank Uses Ethereum-Based Tracking System

Samuel Larreal
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0
Australian Bank Uses Ethereum-Based Tracking System

An Australian bank successfully completes international shopping transactions using Ethereum-based tracking system.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) announced on Monday the completion of an international shipment which used blockchain technology in order to track goods along the entire supply chain. The multinational entity, one of the four largest banks in Australia, announced in a statement that around 37,000 pounds of almonds were shipped from Australia to Germany and tracked by using an Ethereum-based private platform, completely developed by the bank.

Chris Scougall, Managing Director of Industrials and Logistics in Client Coverage at CBA said,

“Our blockchain-enabled global trade platform experiment brought to life the idea of a modern global supply chain that is agile, efficient and transparent. We believe that blockchain can help our partners reduce the burden of administration on their businesses and enable them to deliver best-in-class services to their customers.”

The participating blockchain nodes included key members throughout the supply chain, such as agricultural producer Olam Orchards and logistics companies, as well as the port operator of the Port of Melbourne. The CBA commented that this blockchain-based system records the information from the containers and documents the financial transactions in a distributed network. Everyone involved could simultaneously view and track the shipment information in real-time. The information included the shipment status, temperature and humidity of the containers, as well as some other crucial information for the transaction.

“This provides everyone involved in the supply chain with a high level of transparency and efficiency in relation to the location, condition and authentication of the goods to be transported,”

said CBA in a statement.

Emma Roberts, manager of the supply chain of Olam Ochards, commented,

“Inefficiency can be very negative for our business. In this industry it is vital to look for emerging technologies to find ways to improve the supply chain and develop a more transparent and efficient platform.”

This initiative comes after a previous partnership with Wells Fargo  to test-out blockchain ledger to track international shipments in real time.

CBA seems to be quite enthusiastic when looking at future blockchain adoption and other technological advances in general, with more than one billion dollars in investment going to various fintech development initiatives in 2017.

 

by Samuel Larreal

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