Leveraging Blockchain Technology …

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Fig. 4 Use cases of Blockchain in Indian banking sector

time consuming physical channels which were later digitized due to IoT. However,

this created data safety concerns as the customer’s data stored by way of email

accounts, credit card details, and network passwords became vulnerable and prone

to hacking. This fuelled the need to adopt BCT in KYC processes. The urgency was

also felt as KYC was expensive and time consuming along with being a regulatory

compliance. Based on Thomson Reuters survey, 2017 [24], KYC procedures are

required on an average 32 days as compared to 26 days during 2016. KYC processes

starting with digital identity, records a set of attributes that includes name, birth date,

gender, and nationality of an individual or a set of information related to an entity

used by computer systems to represent an external agent [25]. Regulators impose

huge demands on the bankers to comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and

KYC regulatory requirements. Once KYC is carried out, the details are stored dig-

itally and are assigned with a unique identification number for each customer. This

identification number can be used whenever the customer approaches for a new

service within the same bank or with other banks. Having a secure e-ecosystem is

an essential criterion for the banks planning to adopt BCT as it will substantially

lower security issues by enabling an individual with a digital identity. The embedded

feature of cryptography is an added advantage that secures shared data and is kept

in a central repository called distributed ledger. This is accessible by all financial

institutions. Blockchain along with IoT applied for KYC processes will enhance

the interoperability among bankers globally, reduce administrative costs, and avoid

duplication of data thereby facilitating reduction in infrastructure cost [26]. These

advantages motivated several banks to adopt the R3 enterprise blockchain platform

(Corda) to implement blockchain for the KYC process [27]. Reference [28] in their