The NH Bankers trade group – along with 38 other state banking associations – announced the formation of BankChain Alliance.
The alliance said it aims to create an industry-owned, industry-designed and industry-governed network built on a common blockchain platform. The BankChain Alliance network will allow participating financial institutions the ability to provide emerging banking capabilities while maintaining regulatory standards and security, according to an announcement issued by NH Bankers.
“Banks have always been strongest when they have been able to shape the products and services they provide around the needs of their customers and communities,” NH Bankers board chair Chris Logan said in a statement. “The opportunity to be involved in this Alliance from the ground up means banks have a voice not only in the technology being developed, but in how it is governed and ultimately used. That kind of bank-led approach helps ensure innovation remains grounded in the principles that have always guided banking and that the value created by new financial capabilities can ultimately flow back to the communities we serve.”
Logan is also president and CEO of Bank of New Hampshire.
Examples of such innovations are smart payment tools, tokenized deposits, stablecoins, automated settlement and other innovations using blockchain software, most famously used by cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The alliance is looking for the eventual technology provider to create a platform that can be used by any bank regardless of which core technology provider it uses.
“This initiative gives New Hampshire banks a meaningful voice in shaping the future of financial technology and an opportunity to help ensure these innovations benefit their customers and communities through an organization they know and trust, their local bank,” NH Bankers President and CEO Kristy Merrill said in a statement.
The blockchain is being dubbed a “public-permissioned blockchain”. This means that for banks interested in participating will have access, but those who do not wish to will not and will have to be admitted to the blockchain.
The target launch for the platform is in 2027.
