ABN AMRO Launches Real Estate Blockchain Pilot

Josh O'Neill

19 December 2016

Dutch banking group , in collaboration with IBM, has launched a pilot project to explore how a blockchain-powered application can help parties involved in real estate transactions record and exchange information.

Real estate transactions typically involve numerous parties - such as buyers, sellers, tenants, landlords, appraisers, banks, and regulators – and therefore reliability and efficiency when transferring and recording information is crucial.

In this pilot programme, commercial real estate clients are given the opportunity to enter their lease contracts for properties financed by ABN AMRO in the Torch application, and the information can then be validated by a relationship manager, ABN AMRO said in a statement.

For example, if a property needs to be valued, a bank employee can use Torch to send the necessary details directly to an appraiser. Once the valuation report is completed, it can then be shared with both the bank and the client. The regulator, in this case the Dutch Central Bank, also has access to Torch and all of the information stored inside the application.

Last month, the bank joined forces with Delft University, the Netherlands' oldest technological university, and 14 other partners on a project that aims to apply blockchain technology to the logistics sector.