PwC has launched a new platform called Vulcan Digital Asset Services designed to be used for banking, commerce and other currency and asset related services. These services include digital asset wallets, international payment processing, and investment and trading services, and the company says that it will soon add point-of-sale and merchant services and the ability to create and support native digital currencies and rewards based systems.
The platform is currently being piloted by an international banking group and a central bank, and is being assessed by an airline and another three multinational banks.
Robert Allen, PwC Director and Vulcan Leader, said of the new PwC capability: “Vulcan is a cloud-based platform that enables banks and corporates to offer a suite of new digital currency related products and services to individual, retail and institutional customers within a trusted, transparent and compliant ecosystem. It is the first of its kind globally and has been created to bring digital assets and currency to the mainstream. We’ve created Vulcan because at PwC we believe new technology supported by advances in cryptography and network computing – particularly Blockchain – will transform the consumer, government and financial market industries and shape the next generation of money.”
John Shipman, PwC’s Fintech Asia Leader, commented: “Traditional financial services companies have taken a cautious approach to digital currencies because of the perceived issues with trust and transparency. Vulcan came about because we were looking at these issues in relation to Bitcoin – the poster child of digital money – and in particular, how we can solve challenges relating to the issues of anonymity, and existing regulatory requirements, and recourse given its cross-border nature, function as a store of value and lack of central control. Vulcan is a secure, transparent and regulatory compliant platform that takes care of these risks and technical challenges so banks and corporates can safely transition to this new market structure supported by distributed ledger technology."
“We’re already running several pilots within multiple industries looking at capturing digitised assets within our trusted wallets as well as issuing customer reward points as digital money. We’re also working with governments to see how these services can enhance transparency around humanitarian aid programs through the use of Smart (programmable) money,” he added.
Fintech connections
Vulcan has been built by PwC in conjunction with enterprise blockchain solutions provider Bloq, blockchain integration, reporting, compliance and Analytics provider Libra, and digital identity start-up Netki.
Jeff Garzik, CEO & co-founder, Bloq
“Blockchain-enabled business will be multi-network, multi-chain and multi-token,” said Jeff Garzik, CEO and co-founder of Bloq. “Companies exploring blockchain technology need flexible, tailored systems. By partnering with Vulcan, we’re providing an avenue for even the largest of enterprises to be agile during this next wave of innovation.”
Jake Benson, CEO of Libra, said: “All large enterprises adopting blockchain technology will require an integration layer, reporting and compliance solutions, and an exceptional user experience to drive digital asset adoption. By partnering with Libra, Vulcan addresses these needs enabling true end-to-end enterprise offerings."
Justin Newton, CEO, Netki
Justin Newton, CEO of Netki, said: “Vulcan’s platform provides institutions with the ability to use Netki’s identity standard, to immediately comply with existing regulatory requirements. Netki provides the only open standards way to meet sanctions list and other risk and compliance needs around knowing your customer’s counterparty. By bringing together best of breed solutions around identity, reporting and security services, Vulcan enables the effective deployment of complete blockchain-based applications and services.”
