The bank’s certification network will be available to its customers through a public blockchain network
According to a recent report published by the magazine specialized in business and finance, Forbes, the important Polish bank, Alior Bank, one of Poland’s 10 largest bank, has enabled a system based on the Ethereum blockchain network with the aim to authenticate and certify documents of its clients.
The report states that once the clients of the bank have deposited their documents in the institution, the client can access a public network of blockchain through a web link where they can verify the authenticity of the document. This will help the bank’s customers to check the document on the network, which will follow the specifications required by the bank.
In this sense, Piotr Adamczyk, Alior’s blockchain technology lead, comments: “We know exactly in which block of Ethereum the document with a given hash is published, if we know the block number, we also know the timestamp. We know that the document was published some time ago and it has not been changed (if the hash stored in the block chain is identical to the hash calculated from the document), so we can prove that it has not been replaced on our servers”. This system will help to specify the delivery times of different requirements and maintain an orderly and detailed record of the documents.
This new system made available by the bank, obeys a regulatory resolution issued in 2017 by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in the country. This resolution expresses that websites do not constitute a true support in time for documents, arguing that websites can be modified too easily and that for this reason they are not durable.
Due to this statement, the bank has made available to its customers a web system that will allow the use of a blockchain platform capable of providing, in a safe and lasting manner, the necessary documents for the requirements of the institution. In addition of this, spokesmen of the bank assured that they are the only bank that puts at the disposal of the clients a public network of blockchain specialized for the attention of its clients.
The blockchain strategy lead in Alior, Tomasz Sienicki, declared with enthusiasm that Alior Bank seeks its clients to have more control over the documents that are deposited in the bank. Strengthening this way trust in the institution.
“We want people to verify that we did everything right and that we did not hide anything. If we say the documents are actually verified and authentic, everybody can check them and confirm it. That is not possible using a private blockchain”, he said. For that reason, the institution would use a public blockchain.
Enabling a public blockchain network so that customers can verify the documentation provided to the bank represents a great novelty for financial institutions. Since, according to Sung-jung Kim, who is a financial analyst, more banks are interested in developing private blockchain networks in order to keep all their information safe. Now it is the opportunity for users with the public network.
By María Rodríguez
