A number of global banks are joining forces to establish the first interbank group for global payments based on distributed ledger, or blockchain, technology, Ripple, a San Francisco-based financial technology firm announced on Friday.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Santander, UniCredit, Standard Chartered, Westpac Banking Corp., and Royal Bank of Canada are the founding members of the organization, known as the Global Payments Steering Group (GPSG).
“The GPSG will oversee the creation and maintenance of Ripple payment transaction rules, formalized standards for activity using Ripple, and other actions to support the implementation of Ripple payment capabilities,” Ripple says in a news release.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will also join the GPSG as a new member, Ripple adds.
“The creation of GPSG is significant because this represents the first time that major banks have formulated policies to govern the transfer of money across borders using blockchain,” says Donald Donahue, chairman of GPSG and former president & CEO of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).
“Leading in innovation means recognizing the value of collaboration, and we look forward to bringing that approach to this important effort to shape the payments market of tomorrow for our business clients,” adds Phil Griffiths, SVP, global transaction banking at CIBC.