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N. Surekha et al.

Fig. 5 Trade finance process enabled with IoT and Blockchain

are in terms of real-time review and approval, trusted intermediary, short-term fac-

toring services, proof of ownership, automated settlement mechanism, reduction in

transaction time and cost along with transparency in regulatory compliance. Figure5

illustrates the processes involved in trade finance which can be embedded with smart

contracts. The manual processes depicted with 14 steps are reduced to 7 through

blockchain technology.

Enabling trade finance with Blockchain based smart contracts provides simpli-

fication of operations, connects all the parties involved in trade finance real time,

manages the processes relating to letter of credit effectively leading to automated

settlement.

4.3

Financial Market Infrastructure (Payment, Clearing,

and Settlement)

The growing reliance on the financial sector by individuals and business houses has

magnified the importance of the banking sector in an economy. The banking ecosys-

tem has evolved and has advanced due to the enormous volume of transactions done

on a daily basis and the complicated mesh of interconnected networks. The banking

function of payments, clearing, and settlements is one such complicated area with

substantial daily volumes that needs to be securely monetized by multiple parties.

Determining the obligation is termed as clearing, and discharging the obligation is

called settlement. It is a way of off-setting mutual monetary claims and obligations

between entities through regular non-cash payments with subsequent transfer of the

balance [29]. The logical solution for reducing this evolving ecosystem’s complex-

ities is the blockchain technology enabled IoT system boosted by the 5G mobile