OREANDA-NEWS. July 11, 2016. “Ask a group of bank technology executives what they might have done differently over the past five years and the response might be that they would have handled data more efficiently with a more cohesive digital business strategy and greater analytics and customer insights,” says Philippe Mallet. “But what will the same executives reply if asked that question in five years’ time? Unless they act soon, some banking leaders could soon be adding one more item to that list — waiting too long to make a decision about blockchain.” Excerpts:

“The rollout of blockchain-based digital currencies during the past few years has produced its share of stories on wild price fluctuations and exchange collapses. The hesitation is, therefore, understandable.

The challenges that blockchain will have to overcome before it becomes mainstream include scalability, the time taken to verify the transactions, the cost of transactions and security.

On the security front, attention has been focused on incidents of hacking at bitcoin-based companies and start-ups. However, what has not been covered in detail is that some of the thefts did not originate through the network, but were initiated by individual customers.

Used correctly, the technology can make transactions faster, cheaper, more secure and transparent. It should be noted that even if there is a lot of discussion currently around blockchain, the technology is still new.

Leaders of the cautious-by-nature financial services industry are both excited and apprehensive. Should they make the leap to gain early adopter advantage? Or should they give it a couple more years to mature? Wait for the various open source communities to sort it out and bet on the winner? Or just keep going with traditional transactions while it lasts?

By remaining on the fence, financial services companies may well find themselves left behind. The biggest challenge is to know how to use blockchain and what steps companies need to take to take to ensure successful adoption.”