Global Payout Creates Blockchain Subsidiary For Supply Chains

Corporate payment firm Global Payout has announced plans to create a subsidiary focused on developing blockchain solutions for the supply chain finance and logistics software space.

The company announced news on Thursday (Dec. 21) that it would launch the subsidiary in early 2018. The unit will provide a platform through which companies can make domestic and international payments with foreign exchange (FX) options, while the portal will also support accounts receivable financing for suppliers.

Developing solutions for the platform will include a focus on blockchain technology, said Global Payout.

“Global Payout has continuously [striven] to be at the forefront of leveraging the most advanced technologies available,” the firm’s President William Rochfort said in a statement. “We are developing the most effective and innovative solutions for the customers we serve.”

“Blockchain technology has the potential to lead a major shift in the systems that are used to manage every process that is involved with managing the logistics supply chain,” he continued. “By spinning out a subsidiary whose sole focus will be on advancing the development of a secure and highly efficient blockchain system, I am confident we will be able to deliver an intuitive logistics network that will contribute to revolutionizing the entire industry.”

According to Global Payout, the logistics and freight market is worth $1.5 trillion annually but has struggled to keep up with the pace of growth.

Supply chain management and logistics are common targets for blockchain innovators. Analysis released earlier this year from Chain Business Insights found 80 percent of professionals surveyed expect to use blockchain to “track products moving through the supply chain,” and 60 percent said it could be useful in sharing data with suppliers and tracking payment information.

In an earlier interview with PYMNTS, Paul Brody, global innovation leader, blockchain, at EY explained why many are confident in blockchain’s ability to disrupt supply chain management.

“Blockchain and supply chain management are an especially good fit [for blockchain] because of the distributed and multi-party nature of the business,” he said. “In complex supply chains, you have multiple parties who need to collaborate but don’t want to always share all their information. Historically, they have managed this by sending messages to each other on a one-to-one basis, but that results in lots of islands of information.”