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JPMorgan Joins Temasek, DBS in Blockchain Payments Platform

JPMorgan is teaming up with Temasek and DBS Group to create a new blockchain-based platform for payments.

JPMorgan Joins Temasek, DBS in Blockchain Payments Platform
JPMorgan Chase & Co. signage is displayed in front of the company's headquarters in New York. (Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is teaming up with Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte. and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. to create a new blockchain-based platform for payments, trade and foreign exchange settlement.

The company, which will be named Partior, will leverage blockchain technology and digitize M1 commercial bank money, with the aim of reducing current frictions and latency for cross-border payments, trade and currency settlements, the firms said in a statement Wednesday.

Partior, which means “to distribute and share” in Latin, is also expected to develop wholesale payment rails based on digitized commercial bank money to enable “atomic” -- or instantaneous -- settlement of payments for various types of financial transactions, according to the statement. That would help banks overcome challenges presented by the current standard sequential method of processing global payments.

“The launch of Partior is a global watershed moment for digital currencies, marking a move from pilots and experimentations toward commercialization and live adoption,” said Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, in the statement.

Partior will target some of the most promising use cases for blockchain technology. Processes like cross-border payments can often be slow and cumbersome even in the digital era, so there’s plenty of room for improvement.

Partior will focus initially on facilitating flows primarily between Singapore-based banks in both U.S. dollars and Singapore dollars, with the intent to expand service offerings to other markets and currencies. It will engage banks to join the platform to establish the scale required to benefit the industry. Partior’s platform will also be designed to complement ongoing central bank digital currencies initiatives and use cases.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.