PKO Bank Polski, a Poland-based bank, launched a new Blockchain system on Wednesday. The system is one of the biggest client-facing applications of blockchain technology in Europe.
Through the blockchain system, PKO Bank can build up a distributed ledger of client transactions and agreements. This will allow clients of the bank to access and authenticate all of their banking documents.
PKO Bank teamed up with Coinfirm, a Polish startup, to deploy the distributed ledger. Coinfirm is quickly becoming known on the European high-tech scene and developed the system which PKO Bank will use, called Trudatum.
The launch of the project, which was originally announced in March, follows almost a year of testing. Now, the technology is ready to be rolled out, and PKO’s five million clients can expect to receive the digital terms and conditions for the products in the coming days, the bank says.
After several months of intensive work on the application of blockchain technology to confirm authenticity and Immutability of documents sent electronically by the bank, PKO Bank Polski has fully implemented Trudatum. As part of Coinfirm’s work the platform was delivered using the private blockchain based on IBM’s Hyperledger. The British-Polish startup was also responsible for the integration between the bank and KIR’s systems.
Blockchain Has the Potential to Improve Poland’s Banking Sector
Adam Marciniak
Source: PKO Bank Polski
Commenting on the launch, Adam Marciniak, the vice president of PKO's management board said: “Blockchain has the potential to increase the competitiveness of the Polish banking sector."
“PKO Bank Polski is successfully implementing a strategy focused on digitisation, and the implementation of blockchain based solutions is part of this process and should strengthen our position as a technological leader in Polish banking.”
Paweł Kuskowski
Source: Coinfirm Ltd.
Paweł Kuskowski, Coinfirm’s CEO and co-founder added: “the implementation of Trudatum in an institution as large as PKO is a breakthrough on a global scale. This demonstrates that the Polish financial sector is open to innovation and wants to become an international trend setter.”
When the partnership between Coinfirm and PKO began a year ago, Coinfirm only employed 12 people. Now, following a hiring spree the company has around 100 under its employment. According to the statement, both PKO and Coinfirm hope the launch of the blockchain system will help promote the technology and fintech in Poland.
