Accenture and SAP build blockchain real-time payments settlement system

Accenture, US-based accounting software provider SAP, and R3’s Corda platform have announced working on a real-time gross settlement system.

With real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems, electronic funds transfers between banks occur in real time and settle on a one-to-one basis. This process is often used for high-value transactions that require immediate clearing and are typically handled by central banks.

The payment platform plans to allow for integration and interoperability between distributed ledger technology (DLT) -based and classic government-issued payments and settlements. The co-innovated prototype design uses currency tokens to facilitate end-to-end settlement. Currency tokens are used in preference to digital currencies in this design because they serve as a proxy for standard central bank fiat currency and use cryptography to increase security and authenticity. The prototype provides the flexibility that is essential to adopting and integrating new payment technologies while allowing banks to maintain their current payment formats.