Most financial institutions will have either absorbed blockchain tightly OR they will be gone.
The global finance industry is massive. Global assets under management (AUM) is estimated to be at approximately $85 trillions. This massive industry is under attack from various angles. Yesterday I was at a brick and mortar bank. I like my client services manager (Let’s call him Mr. W).
Mr. W is a super cool guy and he is always smiling. But he couldn’t get me a simple transfer from one bank in US to another in India. It takes 5 business days!! Yes, FIVE business days. And this service is called an express or urgent service. And I have to go back to the bank again in 4 days!!
I asked him the alternative method. It happened to be the good old Wiring. The cost associated was “$50+”. Yes, FIFTY dollars to send $465 dollars.
I was stunned and obviously frustrated. I have been a customer for years and this took me by surprise. At a time when we have the power to transact at lightning speeds, this was definitely disappointing. You can send money to a cell phone or an email!!! But US banks won’t allow me to send to another bank. And my dear banker printed me 5 pages of KYC to send $465. God bless the banker.
Then I realized that technology will eat a lot of these businesses.
Speaking of technology and banking, Blockchain, will disrupt the financial domain most certainly. There’s already a lot that has been discussed, debated and spoken about this distributed ledger, both online and offline. So this ground-breaking technology doesn’t need a special introduction at this point. Calling it ‘disruptive’ is an understatement. To understand what blockchain is capable of, look at bitcoin or cryptocurrency. It has achieved a lot of ‘never heard of’ scenarios in the financial domain. Ever since the technology was introduced in the world of banking, experts have always struggled to create a safe and secure means of transaction. One has to go through a third-party application or an intermediary or a regulatory body to transfer money. But here is a digital currency – completely de-centralized – and has broken all those conventional laws of banking. Today, an individual can send money to anyone in the world almost immediately without having to go through the hassle of what I went through. It is already happening in various parts of the world. You can transfer money via WeChat, Whatsapp, and even Facebook Messenger now.
Believe it or not, blockchain is a ground-breaking technology that can be applied to the you-name-it domain. From agriculture, aviation to supply chain, finance and food industry, blockchain is just about there, everywhere.
Source/More: Blockchain Revolution is Changing The Global Economy For Good
