Blockchain Experts Discuss: Will Blockchain Be the Missing Piece to Financial Inclusion?

The Singapore Fintech Festival rounded up blockchain discussions on the last day of the festival, focusing on one of the main themes of the event, financial inclusion. 

Discussions sparked in a panel joined by Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of Binance, Weimin Guo, Chief Scientist of the Bank of China, and Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Internet Financial Working Committee, as well as other notable blockchain experts. 

CZ mentioned that there was an exclusion when it came to mobile payments such as WeChat Pay for foreigners in China, adding that cross-border transactions could also be made easier with blockchain solutions.  

CZ also revealed that Binance signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ukraine government, as a consulting role to advise them and commented: “A government signing an MoU with a blockchain company is quite significant.” 

“Every country wants to lead the financial revolution; private enterprises should be global leaders as we can always do things faster.” 

Guo mentioned that the problem of financial inclusion would be solved by blockchain, as it allows more access to credible data, loans at a lower cost for those who may not have a credit history, real-time online settlements, and equity to small to medium enterprises (SMEs). 

Guo explained that Bank of China is currently focusing on the application in the wholesale banking domain, as the total of transactions has reached 20 billion renminbi (RMB) as 30 banks have joined the transaction platform.  

Since 2016, blockchain has been deployed in Hong Kong for real estate prop trading, from mortgage services to assessing the value of the real estate. By using blockchain technology, Guo said that the surveyors were able to ensure that the information was traceable and allowed for data to be verifiable, which enables the automation of the mortgage process as well.  

When asked about the current regulatory strategy towards blockchain in China, Guo stated that China has been encouraging blockchain technology to be used as a more common technology in other industries other than financial services as well. He said: “A lot of synergies between industries could create value and efficiencies in the industry, by applying this technology, does have advantages.” 

Guo added that the Bank of China currently has 12 patents pending with more than 100 people working on blockchain-related projects. “Everyone is paying attention, and there is a high level of curiosity to look at this tech. China has a lot of success stories and is doing great in the blockchain domain, bitcoin, and mining companies. In the future, we might have more success.”