Italian Banks Switch to Blockchain: Over 100 Institutions Apply the Technology

Italy is known for favouring innovative technologies such as blockchain. Now, the country is trying to implement the tech in its banking sector. The Italian Banking Association announced that 100 of the country's banks have applied the Spunta solution for the banking sector.

As CoinIdol, a world blockchain news outlet, reported, the blockchain-based project called Spunta was initially aimed at facilitating the interbank processes for the institutions to reach reconciliation and avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape. 

The project piloting has started back in 2018, the official launch took place in March 2020. Since the launch, the system has processed 204 million transactions and added 100 banking institutions including Banca Mediolanum, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Popolare di Puglia e Basilicata, Banca Popolare di Sondrio, Banca Sella, Banco di Desio e della Brianza, Banco BPM, BNL – Gruppo BNP Paribas, BPER Banca, CheBanca!, Crédit Agricole Italia, Credito Emiliano, Credito Valtellinese, DEPObank, ICCREA Banca, Intesa Sanpaolo, UBI Banca, UniCredit.  

Ahead of the digitization 

For now, Italy seems to be leading in terms of blockchain adoption. For now, the country has applied the technology for various industries including textile, agrifood etc. The country’s Ministry of Economic Development has even launched a blockchain-based initiative called Made in Italy, aimed at protecting the goods produced in the country from counterfeiting. 

As some Italian brands are very popular worldwide, it is very important to improve the authentication of products. Owing to its traceability and security, blockchain can confirm the path of a product from the plant to a shop’s shelf. Besides, as the ledger is decentralized, the data are nearly impossible to forge. 

However, blockchain technology has much more benefits to offer to numerous industries including banking. Italian banks have numerous issues related to the procedure of reconciliation of transactions between different banks. Previously, it required lots of time for all the parties to confirm the authenticity of a transaction. 

Now, as financial institutions are joining the Spunta network, the process has become much simpler. Once a transaction is recorded on the blockchain, it can be easily confirmed by all transacting parties, taking much less time and effort. Probably, that is the reason for banks showing so much interest in the initiative. Currently, the network covers around 76% of the banks in Italy. 

The successful experience of introducing and implementing Spunta within Italian banking opens numerous possibilities for exploring similar solutions to implement for other European countries as well as for cross-country transactions.