JPMorgan launches payments network using blockchain technology

REUTERS - JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Monday it launched a new payment processing network that uses blockchain technology, in partnership with Royal Bank of Canada and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.

Blockchain, a shared ledger of transactions maintained by a network of computers on the internet, is the technology that underpins cryptocurrency bitcoin.

The Interbank Information Network will allow payments to reach beneficiaries faster with fewer steps and better security, JPMorgan said on Monday. (http://reut.rs/2ylXai4)

While JPMorgan Chief Jamie Dimon has spoken out against bitcoin, he and other banking executives have lauded the technology. (http://reut.rs/2ym0r0U)

JPMorgan and many of its competitors have invested millions of dollars in the technology in hopes that it can be adapted to simplify and lower the costs of processes such as securities settlement, loan trading and international money transfers.

"Blockchain capabilities have allowed us to rethink how critical information can be sourced and exchanged between global banks," said Emma Loftus, head of global payments and foreign exchange at J.P. Morgan Treasury Services.

The network will be powered by Quorum, a blockchain technology developed by JPMorgan. Other banks are expected to join in the coming months, the bank said.

(Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Anil D'Silva)