“We’ve now got over 45 experiments our businesses want to do [with Blockchain tech],” said Barclays Chief Design and Digital Officer Derek White during his conversation with Business Insider.
It was recently reported that the major financial institution will let charities accept Bitcoin, however, this is just one of the many uses that the bank is contemplating with Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain technology.
Derek is interested in the open ledger blockchain technology because anyone can theoretically see all the transactions and maintain a high level of transparency. In addition to this, the disruptive force is also a low-cost option to transfer money, and that is what’s drawing the attention of several leading banks such as UBS, Barclays and many others.
“We fundamentally believe that the world is shifting from closed to open – closed architecture to open architecture, everything moving to the cloud; closed networks to open networks; closed systems to open systems.”
During the conversation, Derek White disclosed that Barclays has two Bitcoin labs – one in Notting Hill and other in Old Street – both open to parties interested and dealing in Bitcoin and blockchain.
Apart from working and mentoring fintech startups, Barclays is internally experimenting with over 45 use cases for the blockchain technology. They initially started with 22 experiments.
Other leading banks such as UBS and Santander are conducting several experiments of their own utilizing the blockchain technology. Earlier in June, Santander said that they have identified 20 to 25 uses for the technology and is investing in blockchain technology via its $100 million investment fund, Santander InnoVentures.
Fintech is clearly the buzzword today, and banks do not want to miss out on any innovative and disruptive force that is expected to greatly alter how businesses operate, how low-cost and extremely fast transactions become the norm of the day, and how transparency can reach completely new heights. After all, in their case, embracing is a better option than being left out.