J.P. Morgan, DBS Bank, and Temasek collaborate to build blockchain platform Partior, aiming to address global cross-border payment pain points

U.S. banking giant JPMorgan, Singapore's DBS Bank, and Singaporean investment company Temasek have announced plans to jointly establish an open platform based on blockchain technology to address pain points in global cross-border payments.

Singapore Cross-Border Settlement Infrastructure

According to a press release by JPMorgan, a newly established company/platform called Partior aims to improve the costly and cumbersome pain points in the current cross-border payment space caused by "banks verifying payment details multiple times" through blockchain technology.

Takis Georgakopoulos, Global Head of Payments at JPMorgan, stated that the blockchain-based batch payment infrastructure developed by Partior allows messages and value to move globally 24/7 with no friction. Once developed, this infrastructure will enable financial institutions and developers to collectively create applications based on Partior, such as forex settlement, cross-border bank-to-bank delivery versus payment, and peer-to-peer escrow, among others.

Initially, Partior will focus on facilitating forex delivery between Singaporean banks in Singapore dollars and U.S. dollars, but will expand to support various currencies and extend its product offering to other markets in the future, with potential support for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), as stated in the press release.

From Ubin to Partior

JPMorgan, DBS Bank, and Temasek are also participants in Singapore's payment network Project Ubin, led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which aims to explore the potential applications of blockchain technology in clearing and settlement in the payments and securities space.

Building on the pilot experience of Project Ubin and regulatory approvals, Partior emerged, with these three companies shifting their focus towards "changing the value transfer between banks in the new digital era."

Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer at MAS, stated in the press release:

"The launch of Partior represents a milestone for global digital currencies, marking the first step from experimentation towards commercialization and real-world implementation. Partior is a global pioneer in enabling participants to transact in digital currencies on a trusted infrastructure, stimulating a variety of use cases within the blockchain ecosystem."