Blockchain may power real-time LatAm money transfers

Blockchain technology could soon revolutionize money transfers to and from Latin America.

In April, Spain's second biggest lender, BBVA, claimed to be the first to implement a real-time money transfer by sending payments of 50 euros from Spain to Mexico in a matter of seconds. The following month, Spain's biggest bank, Santander, began piloting an app in the UK to do likewise.

Both Spanish banks relied on San Francisco-based Ripple's distributed ledger technology, which enables permanent time-stamped records with integrated messaging.

BBVA, which has a strong presence in Latin America, said the real-time international money transfers would vastly improve customer experience in transactions involving countries in the region.

At a banking technology conference this past week in São Paulo (pictured), Santander announced it has a working group to assess different blockchain platforms, joining a similar initiative in Latin America headed by Brazilian banking association Febraban. The main takeaway from the Ciab Febraban event was the need for Brazilian banks to find a common blockchain platform.

Over 15 Brazilian banks and financial institutions made joint proofs of concept with two blockchain systems: the Corda solution developed by the R3 consortium, using Microsoft's Azure cloud platform; and Hyperledger Fabric, developed by an open-source global collaborative effort hosted by The Linux Foundation.

Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, Santander and Itaú Unibanco are also running proofs of concept to bring blockchain technology to Brazil's invoice payments, or boleto bancario, which would allow banks to visualize payments in real-time. Inter-banking payments chamber CIP is overseeing the project.

According to Leandro Minniti, product manager at CIP, the first working groups to discuss blockchain were formed in July 2016. In December, the group received training in Hyperledger Fabric. The first proofs of concept for the invoicing system began in February, and by April the group started implementing the so-called Aciptance project.

Blockchain was such a significant theme at this year's Ciab Febraban that it earned its own special programming track in the conference.