Infosys Finacle inducted in IFSCA regulatory plan for blockchain finance

Six leading banks are collaborating with trade finance solution for short-term credit, import payments

Infosys Finacle, which is part of EdgeVerve Systems and a subsidiary of the IT services firm, said on Monday it has been inducted into the International Financial Services Centres Authority’s (IFSCA) regulatory framework to pilot its blockchain-based trade finance solution.

Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, HSBC, ICICI Bank, RBL Bank and State Bank of India are collaborating with Infosys Finacle in the framework’s first phase.

The collaboration will test the blockchain-based Buyers Credit solution, for short-term credit in foreign currency, for import payments and trade finance transactions. The solution will later be available as a SaaS-based offering for all banks servicing clients from GIFT City in Gujarat.

It will reduce transaction times from weeks to hours and save cost. It will also enable trade expansion to drive economic growth. The solution will also enable marketplace capability where customers can request the participating banks’ international banking units at GIFT city to provide competitive quotes to unlock the best offers.

“Trade is a vital engine for economic and social progress. Yet, trade finance has a huge unmet demand globally. Solving this problem can help unlock significant opportunities for businesses and banks. But the trade finance ecosystem is complex. Multiple entities and paper-heavy processes create high turnaround times and significant costs,” said Sajit Vijayakumar, chief operating officer at Infosys Finacle.