One of the most high-profile blockchain systems in traditional banking has added a new feature that lets companies shift cash automatically.
JPMorgan Chase & Co’s JPM Coin now allows clients to program their accounts by plugging in a set of key conditions, enabling them to move funds to cover overdue payments and margin calls. Further down the line, it may help them seize on differences in exchange rates.
Germany’s Siemens AG used the system this week, configuring its accounts to transfer money to fill potential shortfalls, Naveen Mallela, head of Coin Systems at JPMorgan’s blockchain division Onyx, said in an interview.
Using blockchain, transfers are already close to instantaneous, at any time of day, rather than made in batches during working hours in the case of traditional banking. Now, the new function at JPM Coin frees them from the need to set standing orders for a particular time or amount, kicking in instead when the preprogrammed criteria are met.
“If you think of the current bank account provided by any financial institution, there is only so much you can do in terms of configurability and set of rules,” Mallela said. “That is what we are changing. We believe this is the first instance of a traditional financial firm building programmable payments at scale, using existing commercial bank money.”
There’s been a spurt of blockchain activity among financial institutions in the past few months.
Last week HSBC Holdings Plc launched a new system to tokenize ownership of physical gold held in its London vaults, while late last month Euroclear switched on a blockchain platform for issuing traditional securities. JPMorgan went live with its first collateral settlement for clients using blockchain and earlier in the year it switched on euro transactions for JPM Coin.
Read More: Wall Street Spots Blockchain Opportunities as Crypto Stumbles
To be sure, blockchain’s mainstream use is still limited. JPM Coin is used to transfer the equivalent of $1 billion daily, an amount that pales when measured against the $10 trillion in US dollar transactions that JPMorgan moves.
Launched in 2019, the system lets large multinationals transfer dollars and euros to and from their various JPMorgan accounts around the world, or make payments to other customers of the bank using blockchain rather than traditional payment routes.
According to Mallela, the ability to move funds automatically at any time when certain conditions are met could appeal to companies’ treasurers in the current interest-rate environment — potentially allowing them to earn more income on deposits.
“When rates are close to zero, treasurers are less bothered, but when rates are 5.5% or rising, that is when all these capabilities start becoming more attractive,” Mallela said. “When we talk about digital currencies and tokenized deposits, the holy grail has always been the ability to program payments.”
FedEx and Cargill are planning to use the system in the coming weeks, the bank said. JPMorgan is gradually working to expand use of the payment system to accounts at other banks, according to Mallela.
