Russian financial companies are increasingly looking at exploring and tapping the possibilities of blockchain technology. After payment services provider Qiwi PLC (NASDAQ:QIWI) voiced its plans to launch its own crypto currency using blockchain, Sberbank Rossii PAO (MCX:SBER) has voiced its willingness to develop blockchain-based products and use them in its services.
Lev A. Khasis, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank, told “Kommersant” that the bank is keen to join the R3 partnership, so that it would work with other leading banks like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Barclays to develop services based on blockchain.
Mr. Khasis noted, however, that no final call has been made regarding an eventual membership of Sberbank in R3.
Although blockchain is usually associated with Bitcoin, Mr Khasis said that Sberbank’s plans regarding blockchain tech do not involve issuing its own crypto currency or making use of bitcoin itself. He added that blockchain can be used by Sberbank for means of payments – simpler, faster and more secure.
The adoption of such a technology may reduce certain risks for the bank, such as the ones associated with its dependance on SWIFT.