In the words of Olawale Daniel, “ Blockchain technology is a form of digitalized, de-centralized public record of all cryptocurrency transactions. Blockchain was designed to record, not just financial-related information, but virtually everything of value.”
A blockchain is a digital transaction record. The name is derived from its structure, in which individual records, called blocks, are connected together in a single list, called a chain. Blockchains are used to record transactions made with cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, and have many other applications. In simple terms, Blockchain is a method for managing and storing information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the network. A blockchain is basically a digital transaction record that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain.
Banking sectors are moving from their traditional methods of securities to high-tech securities. Industry has started experimenting with blockchain by replicating current asset transactions on the blockchain. Although this gives some room for the effectiveness of the blockchain solution. In infrastructure terms, Blockchain is an open source software designed to support the transfer of digital assets among market participants in real time. Using any chosen blockchain APIs, one may demonstrate a drastic decrease in asset transfer costs and timelines.
The main advantages of Blockchain technology in banking sector are that it improves efficiency, enhances security, unchangeable records, quick transaction time and no third party involvement thus decreasing costs.
One of the main advantages of blockchain is the history of immutable transactions. Any purchases that have been made once cannot be removed. This will help to reduce much of the crimes committed against financial institutions.Blockchain uses the Smart Contracts principle. It includes a set of laws by which the parties involved in the contract and agree to deal with each other. It allows any kind of digital information to be stored and allows the party to access or modify data only in accordance with a set of predefined rules.
Many financial firms pay millions of dollars a year to retain all their consumer records. But blockchain allows all the information to be stored in one location. This guarantees the dignity and non-repudiation of the stored data. It allows organizations to access the verification information of a specific customer from another organization and thus avoids duplication of data.
Blockchain increases the processing speed of transactions. The distributed existence eliminates the need for intermediaries to authorize financial transactions between consumers. This offers a cheaper and easier way to exchange currency at lower rates than bank charges.
It is the safest way to avoid fraud, money laundering and promises. In the coming years, Blockchain will spread exponentially to the financial industry. The industry is also investigating the exponential use of Blockchain instances. Blockchain is just not about Bitcoin, but there's a lot more to it yet to be found.