Partior-dbs-corporate

Partior: the next leap

Reimagining payments through the power of blockchain-based clearing and settlement

    At a glance

    Partior is an open industry platform, developed to transform and accelerate interbank value movements, for Payments, Trade, and Foreign Exchange settlement in the new digital era.  

    Following the close of Project Ubin, DBS, J.P. Morgan and Temasek have jointly established a new technology company, Partior. Its blockchain-based clearing and settlement platform serves as a wholesale payment rail for digitised commercial bank money, enabling 24/7 global instantaneous money movement with speed, certainty and transparency. 

    Partior – an overview

    Powered by blockchain

    Leveraging the key benefits of programmability, immutability and traceability, which are inherent features of blockchain and distributed ledgers, Partior opens up new opportunities to address old pain points, particularly in cross-border payments. 

    Disrupting cross-border payments 

    Traditional cross-border payments use a ‘hub and spoke’ model, whereby funds travel through a network of correspondent banks, adding inefficiencies such as time and costs along the way.

    Partior harnesses the power of blockchain to enable next generation, programmable value transfer in real-time, across a globally interoperable open platform for participating banks, their clients and the larger global financial system. By offering instantaneous settlement of payments for various types of financial transactions, Partior helps banks overcome limitations in the current standard sequential method of processing global payments.

    Partior’s difference

    Partior is an open industry platform, and banks around the world can join the network to access real-time cross-border multi-currency payments. Partior’s 24/7 blockchain network can complement and interoperate with real-time local currency payment/RTGS systems, which may not be 24/7. 

    As part of future enhancements, Partior plans to support broader multi-asset class use cases such as Delivery Versus Payment (DVP), FX Payment Versus Payment (PVP), tokenised asset borrowing and lending, and serve as a complementary platform for ongoing Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) initiatives.

    Project Dunbar

    Project Dunbar is an experimental multi-CBDC (multiple central bank digital currencies) platform for international settlements, developed by BIS Innovation Hub and central banks of Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa. 

    Working with Project Dunbar, Partior’s blockchain technology has been further verified in the successful completion of prototypes on the distributed ledger technology Quorum, proving the technical feasibility of implementing a shared multi-CBDC platform. While further challenges remain, the successful development of these prototypes is a first step towards achieving the vision of a shared platform for multi-CBDCs and in laying the foundation of enhancing global cross-border payments.

    Project Ubin

    Project Ubin was the launch pad for the development of Partior. DBS has been a leading partner in Project Ubin since its inception in 2016. The multi-phase industry initiative, led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), explores the uses of blockchain technology for clearing and settlement of payments and securities.

    Outcomes of the project phases

    DBS is part of the consortium of financial institutions supporting the Project Ubin project, which was successfully completed in July 2020.

    Phase 1: Tokenised SGD

    •  Launched a proof-of-concept project to conduct inter-bank payments using Blockchain technology. Phase 1 was successfully concluded on 9 March 2017.

    Phase 2: Re-imagining Real-time Gross Settlement (RTGS)

    • Developed software prototype of three different models for decentralised inter-bank payment and settlements with liquidity savings mechanisms. 

    Phase 3: Delivery versus Payment (DvP)

    • Developed Delivery versus Payment (DvP) capabilities for settlement of tokenised assets across different blockchain platforms, allowing financial institutions and corporate investors to carry out real-time exchange and final settlement of tokenised digital currencies and securities assets, improving operational efficiency and reducing settlement risks. The project demonstrated that DvP settlement finality, interledger interoperability and investor protection can be achieved through blockchain-led solutions.

    Phase 4: Cross-border Payment versus Payment (PvP)

    • The MAS, together with The Bank of Canada (BoC), Bank of England (BoE), jointly published a report on 15 November 2018 which assesses alternative models that could enhance cross-border payments and settlements. The report examines existing challenges and considers alternative models that could in time result in improvements in speed, cost and transparency for users.

    Phase 5: Enabling Broad Ecosystem Collaboration

    • The final phase of the project explored the development of the multi-currency payments model, to provide connectivity interfaces for other blockchain networks to connect and integrate seamlessly. The work in this phase also explored the value of a blockchain-based payments network for wholesale banking purposes . 
    Get in touch

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