Accenture, Siam Commercial Bank team on blockchain supply tool

Accenture and Digital Ventures, a FinTech subsidiary of Thailand’s oldest bank, Siam Commercial Bank, have co-developed and launched a blockchain solution which aims to simplify the way companies buy and sell goods, make and receive payments, and obtain financing.

Pitched as the world’s first fully integrated procure-to-pay solution on R3’s Corda open source platform from R3, this was created with SCG, a business conglomerate in the ASEAN region, and taps agile methodology and DevOps principles, along with microservices and cloud technologies.

Digital Ventures’ Blockchain Solution for Procure-to-Pay, also known as B2P, is now in production use, handling transactions with selected SCG suppliers.

“The most exciting part of the blockchain solution is that the outcome is so tangible: the efficiency improvement, the cost reduction and the convenience that all stakeholders have experienced with this platform,” says Divyesh Vithlani, who heads Accenture’s Financial Services practice in the ASEAN region.

“This successful outcome is a powerful testament of the collaboration we have with our clients, while delivering value in the market at speed.”

“This is a breakthrough technology that offers a lot of value,” says Orapong Thien-Ngern, Digital Ventures’ CEO.

“Given that most supply chains involve a large number of suppliers, the complexity of integrating and reconciling all the different systems from each of the companies can be a costly, daunting and time-consuming task. Blockchain enables parties to securely share all the information without the need for extensive integration between their various technology systems.”

The aim is to scale the solution and leverage it for other functions beyond procurement, including order-to-cash, international money transfer and trade finance.