Singapore’s DBS has completed a pilot project using blockchain technology to programmably disburse government grants to companies.
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The bank worked with Enterprise Singapore and the country’s Fintech Association on the pilot, which made programmable payouts to 27 local fintechs.
Using DBS’s permissioned blockchain, government agencies have been able to set and program conditions that govern the disbursement of grants. Conditions included payouts only to approved recipients and upon meeting certain terms and conditions. Once the verified conditions of the smart contracts were met, the grants were automatically paid out in cash.
This improved governance controls while reducing the need for manual cash handling processing by intermediaries, allowing companies to receive government cash payouts more quickly, DBS said. Additionally, the authorized blockchain allows the bank to have complete transparency throughout the entire process.
Han Kwee Juan, Country Head of DBS Singapore, said: “This programmable grant disbursement pilot represents a new payment instrument that leverages learnings from our dedicated money pilots and represents a major milestone in the industrialization of blockchain technology.” Smart Contracting technology automates and streamlines the disbursement of grants for government agencies to enable faster and more secure disbursements and payments.
“We envision this payment innovation expanding to additional use cases, including milestone-based project payments, consumer rewards, and more.”