How IBM can help

As one of the world’s leading research organizations,
and one of the world’s top contributors to open
source projects, IBM is committed to fostering the
collaborative effort required to transform how people,
governments and businesses transact and interact.
IBM provides clients the consulting and systems
integration capabilities to design and rapidly adopt
distributed ledgers, digital identity and blockchain
solutions. IBM helps clients leverage the global scale,
business domain expertise, and deep cloud integration
experience required for the application of these
technologies. Learn more at ibm.com/blockchain


Rapidly breaking through
barriers

A breakout group of Trailblazer banks is leading adoption
of blockchain solutions. Defying expectations, larger
banks are leading the charge. Trailblazer banks have
identified the business areas of reference data, retail
payments, and consumer lending where blockchains
can help realize the greatest benefits related to time,
cost and risk. Blockchains can help these early adopters
open new business models for trade finance, corporate
lending and reference data. Despite this, Trailblazers are
investing in areas where they anticipate disruption – and
the greatest benefit.

Executive summary

Banking organizations across the globe are investing resources in exploring how blockchains
can impact their businesses. The IBM Institute for Business Value with the support of the
Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed 200 banks in 16 countries on their experiences and
expectations with blockchains. This executive report outlines what differentiates the early
adopters and what we can learn from them.
Just a handful of banks are operating on blockchains today. In 2017, 15 percent of the banks in
our study expect to have blockchains in commercial production. These Trailblazers are
prioritizing blockchain efforts to break through barriers to creating new business models and
reaching new markets.


Trailblazers are prioritizing blockchains to benefit time, cost and risk in three areas: reference
data, retail payments and consumer lending. They also expect blockchains to yield the greatest
effect in opening up new business models in three areas: trade finance, corporate lending and
reference data.
Trailblazers see a significant wall of disruption heading their way in core business areas.

They
expect five out of nine core business areas to experience significant disruption and are investing
in each.
Across the industry, banks are investing in international payments, other cash management,
corporate lending, consumer lending, mortgages and deposit taking. These findings reveal that
blockchain adoption is accelerating faster than originally anticipated, with organizations
identifying key areas and benefits in which to explore solutions.


First movers


Trailblazers set a fast pace and new direction
When the first international payments on a blockchain crossed the wires, the transaction was
completed in a matter of seconds instead of hours.1 Speed of execution, of course, is one
benefit derived from blockchains, but speed is also proving the operative word when it comes
to blockchain commercialization. Our survey of commercial and retail banks reveals that the
industry is hurtling toward blockchain adoption far faster than many expected.
Commercial applications in banking are few in number today. In 2017, a full 15 percent of the
banks in our study expect to have commercial blockchain solutions at scale (see Figure 1).


We call this group the Trailblazers. In effect, 2017 looks to be the year banking on blockchains
shifts from zero to sixty. First-mover advantages for this group include the ability to influence
and set the business standards by which others will operate. Moreover, as start-ups take aim
at incumbents and new business models expand beyond industry boundaries, first-mover
banks will be well situated to get ahead of the consequent disruption....

To download the full 20 page IBM pdf report for free, click here: 
https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?htmlfid=GBP03467USEN

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