Deloitte and SETL develop contactless payment card using blockchain

The payment card has been successfully tested by 100 users and is expected to go into commercial production by the end of 2017. It has been created for customers of FTSE 250-listed Metro Bank and the test-users used their cards to pay for cupcakes in sterling, with both customers and merchants bank balances updated in “live-time”. The payment card uses Deloittes “Smart Identity” blockchain system, with customer identity records stored and certified by Deloitte and then sent to SETL to set up user credentials.

Blockchain works as a web-based transaction-processing and settlement system and records any given set of data that is automatically replicated for all parties in a secure network, eliminating any need for third-party verification, and allowing for payments to be settled in a matter of seconds.

However, blockchain has met also some critics, Bitcoins blockchain at the moment processes fewer than 300,000 transactions per day. But SETL says it can process billions of transactions per day, or tens of thousands per second, allowing it to compete with the large card networks, which process around 2,000 to 3,000 transactions per second, according to Reuters.