Since May, 55 banks have been operating on Spunta, the sector blockchain of the banking world in Italy. In fact, 23 other banks went into production, adding to the 32 already operational since March. The technological highway is strengthened and enriched by knots on which the banking sector in our country can count. Spunta Banca DLT (Distributed ledger technology), the project promoted by ABI and coordinated by Abi Lab, is in fact operational for the reporting of reciprocal accounts. To date, 55 banks operate on a blockchain and have moved the whole process from a traditional method of exchanging phone calls and messages to a technology based on distributed ledgers for reporting mutual accounts.
The interbank check
The new application verifies the correspondence of activities involving two different banks. The interbank check procedure for Italy is linked to operations traditionally borne by the back office, aimed at reconciling the flows of transactions that generate accounting entries on reciprocal accounts in Italy and managing pending transactions. Until now the check has been based on bilateral registers, with a low level of standardization and non-advanced operating methods. The application of a blockchain-based process in the sense of distributed ledger technology (DLT) to the interbank check Italy allows to automatically find mismatched transactions based on a shared algorithm, makes it possible to standardize the process and the channel of unique communication and allows you to have a complete view of the transactions between the interested parties. Consequently, the principles of the new Spunta provide for full visibility of the own and counterparty movements; speed in managing flows with reconciliation on a daily rather than monthly basis; sharing the rules for ticking movements symmetrically between the counterparty banks; integrated management of communications and processes in the event of an imbalance.
The updating of the Agreement for the maintenance of reciprocal accounts between banks allowed the adoption at full sector level of the development in full swing in the new modality starting from March. As mentioned earlier, a final migration window is expected in October.
The partners
The project promoted by ABI, coordinated by Abi Lab - the Research and Innovation Center for the bank promoted by the Italian Banking Association, for the application of a blockchain to interbank processes, sees the commitment of the technical partners NTT DATA and SIA , in addition to R3 with the Corda Enterprise platform.
Blockchain - Distributed ledger technology (Dlt)
The blockchain, also intended as distributed ledger technology (DLT), allows a large database to be distributed and distributed on multiple nodes, i.e. on multiple machines connected to each other. This allows in different ways of thinking and designing the ways of relating and exchanging between the participants.
With the Spunta Banca DLT project, the Italian banking association has brought the blockchain into the Italian banking world in a concrete way, through an infrastructure for banks operating in Italy that in the future will also be able to host other applications. With the Spunta blockchain, banks have a way for possible future developments.
The Italian banking sector is a relevant player in the blockchain landscape and therefore in innovation.
Pilot banks
18 banks / banking groups work and govern the project, representing 78% of the banking world in terms of number of employees. Up to now, they have actively participated in the choices, implementation and testing of the new distributed technology:
Banca Mediolanum, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Popolare di Puglia and Basilicata, Banca Popolare di Sondrio, Banca Sella, Banco di Desio and Brianza, Banco BPM, BNL - BNP Paribas Group, BPER Banca, CheBanca !, Crédit Agricole Italia , Credito Emiliano, Credito Valtellinese, DEPObank, ICCREA Banca, Intesa Sanpaolo, UBI Banca, UniCredit.
The project activities involved a community, coordinated by ABI Lab, of over 150 representatives of the pilot banks, from the operators to the management, in addition to the development team, made up of the partners SIA, NTT DATA and R3, made up of over 80 people.
Another 23 banks have been on the blockchain since May
Banca del Fucino, Banca del Piemonte, Banca di Cividale, Banca di Imola, Banca Euromobiliare, Banca Generali, Banca IFIS, Banca Popolare del Frusinate, Banca Popolare del Lazio, Banca Popolare di Fondi, Banca Popolare Valconca, Private Leasing Bank, Development Bank Tuscia, Banca UBAE, Banca Valsabbina, Banco di Lucca and Tirreno, Banca Popolare di Bari, Cassa di Risparmio di Fermo, Cassa di Risparmio di Orvieto, Cassa di Risparmio di Volterra, Credito Emiliano, Imprebanca, La Cassa di Ravenna.
32 banks have gone into production since the beginning of March
Banca Akros, Banca Aletti, Banca di Sassari, Banca Fideuram, Banca Mediolanum, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Patrimoni Sella & C., Banca Popolare di Puglia and Basilicata, Banca Popolare di Sondrio, Banca Sella, Banca Sella Holding, Banco di Desio e della Brianza, Banco di Sardegna, Banco BPM, BNL - BNP Paribas Group, BPER Banca, Cassa di Risparmio di Bra, Cassa di Risparmio di Saluzzo, CheBanca !, Crédit Agricole Friuladria, Crédit Agricole Italia, Credito Valtellinese, DEPObank, ICCREA Banca, Intesa Sanpaolo, Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking, IW Bank, MPS Capital Services, MPS Leasing and Factoring, UBI Banca, UniCredit, Widiba.