News

Payments players search for the power within the blockchain

June 27, 2016

Credit union service organizations TMG and Co-op Financial Services have teamed with research and consulting firm Mercator Advisory Group in a venture to discover the true potential of blockchain technology.

The partners currently are testing a strategic decision framework intended to help financial institutions determine how they can use the blockchain, according to a press release.

Once complete, the tool is expected to act as an evaluation template to help FIs match business problems with blockchain platforms. 

"We are currently testing the decision framework, using it to evaluate three specific business problems against two specific blockchain platforms," TMG CEO Shazia Manus said in the release.

The framework will provide a process to speed up the acquisition of a particular blockchain service, according to Tim Sloane, vice president of payments at Mercator. 

"Identifying business problems that may benefit from blockchain technology requires three steps," he said. "First, the problem must be defined in terms specific to how it might operate on the blockchain. Second, the current value chain must be examined to see if blockchain deployment is likely to be accepted by existing business partners. Third, the scope must be expanded to include relevant risk and regulatory considerations."