SBS Bank, a New Zealand commercial bank, is keeping a watch on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies and admits that there is some real value in the former.
"We think, and the common consensus is, that it has real merit," said SBS chief executive Shaun Drylie at the SBS annual meeting earlier this week, according to a report of the news outlet Southland Times. Blockchan and cryptocurrencies were one of the topics discussed at the meeting.
The possible application of blockchain technology in banking is to improve the speed and lower the cost of bank transfers, or to find its application in the security of the transactions. Another potential use is in offering financial services to the currently unbanked.
Not very surprisingly, however, Drylie is skeptical towards the cryptocurrencies: "Cryptocurrencies, we're not too sure, and if you look at the volatility of cryptocurrencies that would suggest the market is not too sure as well," he noted, adding that the bank is keeping an eye on them too, as they might have future. “We're keeping a close eye on it, but it's very hard to pick where it's going to go long term,” he said. Besides, according to him, the regulatory situation is still rather unclear.
Overall, the New Zealand banks have a somewhat hostile attitude towards cryptocurrencies. Only recently the governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Geoff Bascand said a central bank-issued cryptocurrency would not be financially stable because of its existing scalability constraints and slow confirmation process. Earlier this year some New Zealand crypto exchanges have had trouble with their bank accounts.
However, the enthusiasm of New Zealand banks for blockchain technology is a bigger. In May another New Zealand financial institution – ANZ – teamed up with IBM (NYSE:IBM) to test a blockchain solution for the insurance market.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
