R3 and Mphasis partner to develop a blockchain-based payments solution

By Edil Corneille

Bangalore-based Mphasis, an information technology (IT) solutions provider specialising in cloud and cognitive services, today announced its partnership with R3, a global enterprise software firm, to jointly create blockchain-enabled payment solutions and take them to market. Leveraging R3’s blockchain platform, Corda, Mphasis is strategically extending its payments and trade finance technology solutions portfolio.

The partnership will focus on the acceleration of ALTATM, the digital payments and supply chain finance ecosystem formed by Mphasis to connect global enterprises, their supply chains, and a wide range of financial services and infrastructure providers into a modern value transfer network for global trade. The solution will provide Mphasis customers with access to a suite of payments, working capital, and foreign exchange services that can be seamlessly deployed on the Corda blockchain platform.

The collaboration with R3 will allow small and medium-sized businesses to easily and digitally access working capital and other financial services that will help bolster and strengthen the entire supply chain.

“Through the ALTATM Payments Innovation Program – a part of the Sparkle Innovation Lab –, we have been working on various ways to transform traditional trade assets into tokenised, liquid instruments that can serve as the basis for a new digital, networked value transfer ecosystem,” said Srikumar Ramanathan, Senior Vice President & Global head – Industry Solutions Group (ISG), Mphasis. “The partnership with R3 will allow us to accelerate co-development and go-to-market on the Corda platform.”

By implementing a network-based model in what has traditionally been a linear and point-to-point approach, enterprises and their supply chains can unlock working capital while banks and financiers can significantly increase return on risk weighted assets (RWA) and scale supplier adoption.

“To support a meaningful and sustainable re-activation of global supply chains, we must embrace more flexible, efficient, and resilient models that enable a higher level of visibility and collaboration between banks, buyers, and suppliers. We are thrilled to be working jointly with Mphasis to create innovative blockchain-based payments solutions,” said Dorothy Copeland, Global head of Alliance and Ecosystems, R3.

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