Wells Fargo to Pilot Distributed Ledger Technology for Internal Settlement Services

Wells Fargo has declared its intention to conduct a pilot project on internal settlement services using the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The world’s fourth-largest bank will utilize its digital token to facilitate exercise, which is scheduled for 2020.

According to the announcement made on September 17, 2019, Wells Fargo plans to use its digital token ‘Wells Fargo Digital Cash’ to settle internal transactions across borders, targeting USD transfers.

Distributed Ledger Technology for Faster Transactions

The company believes that by using DLT, it will be able to accomplish seamless and “near real-time” money transfers. This was confirmed by Lisa Frazier, the Head of Innovation Group at Wells Fargo, who believes that the financial landscape has changed and money movement currently is largely digital. Therefore, there is a high demand for fresh innovations that will reduce the tension associated with traditional borders. Against that backdrop, the company considers DLT as a viable solution.

“We believe DLT holds promise for a variety of use cases, and we’re energized to take this significant step in applying the technology to banking in a material and scalable way. Wells Fargo Digital Cash has the potential to enable Wells Fargo to remove barriers to real-time financial interactions across multiple accounts in multiple marketplaces around the world.”

While the pilot project will kick off with USD transfers, the Wall Street bank stated that it would later include other currencies and expand it to other Well Fargo branches worldwide.

Additionally, Wells Fargo’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) aims to empower the company’s locations to transfer funds even outside normal working hours without limits. The technology would also remove third party involvement, as well as reduce time and cost when conducting transactions.

Major Financial Institutions Embracing Blockchain Technology

Blockchain technology delivers transparency and immutability, which has led it to attract the attention of various sectors including health, food, health, and energy among others.

While Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has not recorded major use cases across various sectors, the technology is increasingly gaining momentum in key financial institutions. JP Morgan is a good example of a company that planned to use DLT to improve its banking system.