Commerzbank and BASF started using smart contracts to pay for suppliers instantly

In mid-May 2021 Commerzbank , he announced his participation in a joint project with chemical companies BASF and Evonik blockchain a project under which smart contracts they were used to instantly pay for the services of suppliers.

The blockchain project, in which Commerzbank participates, assumes that the verification, payment and registration of payments in the supply chain is carried out in a fully automatic mode using smart contracts.

The payment process through the blockchain and with the help of programmable money in our existing process chains is definitely more transparent, faster and more reliable, "said Heinz-Gunther Lux, senior digital strategy specialist at Evonik Digital. - This is an important building block for the development of fully autonomous supply chains.

Commerzbank and BASF started using smart contracts to pay for suppliers instantly

The pilot project took place in a real environment, and the relevant data were transferred to the Commerzbank blockchain using the Elemica supply chain integrator. A tamper-proof business process record and automatic payment start data has been registered in the blockchain.

Programmable money has great potential for further digitalization of supply chains, "said Commerzbank board member Karsten Bittner. - Commerzbank has once again taken a significant step forward in the use of blockchain-based payment solutions, building on our ongoing work in this exciting area of future financing.

Partners plan to expand the project and attract additional participants in the supply chain. However, according to project participants, the problem is that all parties must use Commerzbank's electronic money or cash in the ledger. However, not all participants can use Commerzbank.

The German Banking Industry Committee (DK) presented a paper calling for a standard for token-based banking money, ideally from the European Central Bank. If such standards existed, compatibility could be achieved for tokens of different banks.^[1]

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