PKO bank introduces new blockchain system

Poland’s largest bank has launched a new blockchain system in one of the biggest applications of the flourishing technology in Europe to date.

Up to five million customers of PKO Bank Polski will be able to use the new blockchain system, which the bank hopes will strengthen its position as one of the leaders of innovative solutions in the Polish banking sector.

The blockchain system allows the bank to build up a ledger of client transactions and agreements, while clients will be able to access all their banking documents and confirm the authenticity of them, if need be.

“Blockchain has the potential to increase the competiveness of the Polish banking sector,” said Adam Marciniak, vice president of the bank’s management board, in a statement. 

“PKO Bank Polski is successfully implementing a strategy focused on digitisation, and the implementation of blockchain based solutions is part of this process and should strengthen our position as a technological leader in Polish banking.”

PKO will use technology developed by Coinfirm, a Polish start-up that describes itself as the “go-to hub for blockchain research”, and a company that has a burgeoning reputation on the European high-tech scene.

Its digital blockchain system, called Trudatum, will provide the platform for PKO’s services.

“The implementation of Trudatum in an institution as large as PKO is a breakthrough on a global scale,” said Paweł Kuskowski, Coinfirm’s CEO and co-founder. “This demonstrates that the Polish financial sector is open to innovation and wants to become an international trend setter.”

When it started its co-operation with PKO a year ago Coinfirm employed just 12 people, but it now has around 100 people on its books.