IDB and Citi Innovations Lab execute blockchain cross-border payment

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced it had executed a cross-border payment using blockchain as part of a proof of concept involving Citi Innovation Labs.

The solution used the LACChain blockchain network, a public permissioned consortium blockchain for Latin America and the Caribbean backed by IDB.

In terms of the Citi payment trial, IDB deposited money in its US Citi bank account. Using Citi’s WorldLink payment APIs, the blockchain accessed the money, tokenised it and made transfers with a digital wallet.

After the money was tokenised, the funds were converted to local currency, Dominican pesos (DOP), with the exchange rate established by Citi. Exchange rates, payment status, and fees were traceable and transparent at all times as the transaction could be checked in the LACChain Blockchain.

LACChain has some similarities with other regional blockchain networks such as Alastria in Spain, EBSI in Europe and the BSN in China. In most cases, these are creating regional networks of networks using multiple blockchain flavours.