News

Co-op, TMG investigate blockchain opportunities

May 2, 2016

Co-op Financial Services and TMG are commissioning a series of studies by Mercator Advisory Services on blockchain technology with the goal of educating credit unions about the pros and cons of using digital ledger technology.

The first study will be completed by late summer, in time for credit unions' 2017 budget planning processes. The CUSOs plan to share the resulting white paper with their respective clients.

"We will have Mercator survey the current blockchain landscape in order to create a strategic decision framework for evaluating blockchain and other technologies," said Stan Hollen, president and CEO of Co-op. "Co-op and TMG wish to support the credit union movement by creating some much needed clarity around this technology."

Both Co-op and TMG see value in the potential transparency and security of blockchain technology. However, the press release said, the companies also realize that the complex integration architecture of blockchain could be a major stumbling block for wide-scale adoption.

"Our two organizations are committed to taking a methodical approach in providing the credit union movement with the research needed to determine if there is a way to move forward," said TMC CEO Shazia Manus.

A blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of transaction records hardened against tampering and revision. It includes two types of records: transactions and blocks. Transactions include the actual data stored in the blockchain, and blocks confirm exactly when and in what sequence transactions occur.