Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom & Vodafone to Use Blockchain for Roaming Settlement; Abra is Building Banking Solutions on Stellar Blockchain, and More

Last week (13-18 July) in the Blockchain & Crypto world was another interesting one - three global industry leaders in telecommunications — Spain’s Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, and British provider Vodafone — have jointly finalized a trial blockchain solution for the settlement of roaming discount agreements; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, or MUFG, the fifth largest bank in the world, is reportedly planning to issue its own digital currency in the second half of 2020, and more!

About this and more, in the newest issue of Weekly Blockchain & Crypto Digest. Enjoy!

Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone Use Blockchain for Roaming Settlement

Three global industry leaders in telecommunications — Spain’s Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, and British provider Vodafone — have jointly finalized a trial blockchain solution for the settlement of roaming discount agreements. 

Developed by blockchain startup Clear, the solution is expected to reduce capital costs for telcos, support faster revenue recognition, and provide more efficient settlement for their inter-company deals and workflows.

Both Telefónica Innovation Ventures and the Telekom Innovation Pool of Deutsche Telekom had participated in a $13 million Series A investment for Clear earlier this year to support the startup in developing its blockchain settlement system.

The finalized trial solution involved a system for automated settlement for roaming data from the three providers for 2019. 

Use of the system enabled Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone to obtain yearly settlement results “within minutes” and to have real-time and multi-party insight into data discrepancies. The providers were also able to update or amend data on the system instantly.

Johannes Opitz — vice president of commercial roaming services at Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier — explained the benefits of using the blockchain solution for an evolving global telecoms infrastructure: 

Roaming discount agreement reconciliation is a complex, costly process prone to errors [...] Using Clear’s solution, operators will now have the ability to transact seamlessly with an ecosystem of partners — a crucial ability in the 5G and Edge ecosystem, in which we foresee significant growth of operators’ business relationships and business models.

The three telecom giants are calling on other providers to join the network of users of Clear’s solution, with the hope that automated roaming settlement will provide a boost for new business partnerships to support the new services needed for technologies such as 5G, Edge computing and Internet of Things ecosystems.

Clear’s co-founder and executive chairman, Eran Haggiag, said that “initiatives from leading industry bodies such as the GSMA [Global System for Mobile Communications] and the GLF [Global Leaders' Forum] are now pushing for industry adoption across multiple use cases.” He noted that the solution can guarantee control, security, and privacy for contract settlement between firms.

The CEO of Vodafone Roaming Services, Sherif Bakir, similarly tied the system to the future roadmap for telecoms infrastructure, noting that:

With new, more complex technologies like 5G and IoT being introduced, even more radical innovation in roaming will take digitalization to the next level. Vodafone believes blockchain is the solution, and its use will lay the foundation for further sustained innovation. Clear’s solution is a solid demonstration of blockchain’s benefits.

Japanese Banking Giant to Issue Its Own Stablecoin in Late 2020

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, or MUFG, the fifth largest bank in the world, is reportedly planning to issue its own digital currency in the second half of 2020.

Initiated back in 2015, the digital currency project was originally designed to run on a blockchain network and facilitate instant peer-to-peer transactions. Following multiple delays, the initiative is now scheduled to be rolled out no later than 2020.

Hironori Kamezawa, president and CEO at MUFG, announced the new plans on Monday to local news agency, the Mainichi Shimbun. As part of the upcoming launch, MUFG is reportedly planning to launch mobile retail payments powered by the digital currency in collaboration with its partner, the Recruit Group.

According to the report, Kamezawa said that nearly 1 million Recruit member stores have already signed up for this collaboration. “We think that everyone will be able to use it openly,” the CEO noted, adding that MUFG token will be available to non-Recruit stores in future as well.

Stellar Foundation Joins Forces With Samsung to Integrate its Blockchain Ecosystem

The Stellar Development Foundation, or SDF, announced the official integration of its blockchain ecosystem into Samsung’s Blockchain Keystore on July 15. This integration aims to provide a solution for Stellar end-users to store private keys on selected Galaxy smartphones.

According to the announcement, developers from the Stellar ecosystem will be able to create blockchain-related apps and services for Samsung Galaxy smartphone owners.

Denelle Dixon, CEO and executive director of the Stellar Development Foundation, commented on the partnership with Samsung:

Stellar’s integration into the Samsung Blockchain Keystore is a significant step for our network and the incredible ecosystem of applications built on this platform. Samsung provides a key management solution that is user-friendly and drives greater adoption of blockchain technology. With this integration, we’ve opened up to a new network of users that can benefit from the combined innovation of Stellar and Samsung.

Samsung smartphones which are eligible for the integration include the Galaxy S20 Series, Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy Note 10 Series, Galaxy Fold, and the Galaxy S10 series.

Abra Building Banking Solutions on Stellar Blockchain

Abra, the company behind the global crypto and fiat wallet and exchange app of the same name, plans to give the world banking services underpinned by Stellar's blockchain — one of the results of the SDF's $5 million investment in Abra earlier in 2020. 

During the SDF's digital second quarter review meeting on July 15, Abra CEO Bill Barhydt mentioned Abra's focus on upcoming banking-type features the company is building out. In particular, Barhydt noted an "interest-earning capability" expected to hit the market in the coming weeks. 

"This allows consumers, for example, people who aren't even familiar with cryptocurrency, to store dollars and earn significant interest on those dollars," Barhydt said in the meeting, elaborating on the upcoming interest-related featured. He also included availability of the same interest-generating function for crypto holders, as well as staking functionalities.  

In general, Abra collaborates with an array of banks, exchanges and other entities for global liquidity on the backend of its platform, as well retail players for app compatibility in real-world use cases, Barhydt explained. 

Explaining the bones and structure of Abra's operation behind the customer-facing interest generation, Barhydt mentioned working with approved large institutional players in tandem with its backend, which he labeled as "a very sophisticated lending system."  

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About: I am a business developer, sales professional, FinTech strategist, as well as Cryptocurrency and Blockchain enthusiast. I'm highly passionate about Financial Technology and Digital Innovation, and strongly believe that it will change the world for the better. Apart from my daily job at a global payments startup where I'm leading company's expansion into Europe , I'm an active member of FinTech community and a TechFin evangelist.

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