Blockchain: Is it hype?  85

• Reduction in financial fraud through blockchain can significantly

reduce costs for businesses

• Blockchain can automate the KYC process that can reduce fraud and

in essence improve regulatory trust

• Blockchain can enable cross-border payments and provide a simple,

quick, transparent and safe process

Non-financial benefits

• Banking for the unbanked can provide financial inclusion for the peo-

ple without any bank account or services

• Providing end-to-end transparency of goods origin can improve farm-

ers’ and goods producers’ lifestyles as well as gain customers’ trust

towards the brand. This can have a social impact on society and

improve the brand of business by being ethical

• Providing transparency to the end customers of goods’ carbon foot-

print can force businesses to be more carbon neutral, saving the

planet

Sector-specific benefits

I think it is the right moment to qualify the blockchain benefits specific

to the different sectors. The following section will articulate and focus on

specific benefits and bind them to the sectors:

Capital Markets

• Enable businesses to have global reach and increase their footprint

quickly

• Gain the trust of regulators and customers globally by offering seam-

less and secure products and solutions

• Reduce fraud by automation of KYC, consortium-based blockchain

and sharing the knowledge between stakeholders within the members

of the blockchain

• Faster cross-border payments

• Reduce cost by using automation contracts through smart contracts

Trade Finance

• Provide seamless end-to-end trade finance solutions to not only cut

the time to complete a transaction, but also reduce the cost by avoid-

ing intermediaries from the life cycle of the trade

• Make the global trade transaction seamless, transparent, secure

and automated through the use of blockchain ledger and smart

contracts