(GERMANY)
Daimler is teaming up with a German banking group to road test blockchain technologies.
It has launched a €100 million 12-month bond-type instrument – called a corporate Schuldscheinthat – in partnership with Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), with savings banks (Kreissparkasse) Esslingen-Nürtingen, Ludwigsburg and Ostalb also acting as lenders. Every aspect of the administrative process will be done through blockchain technologies.
“This pilot is the first step to testing the wide variety of possibilities that blockchain offers,” said Kurt Schäfer, Vice President Daimler Treasury. “Blockchain can affect nearly the entire value chain. That’s why we, as a leading automaker, want to play an active role in the global blockchain community and help shape the cross-sector blockchain standards. We want to do this in all the areas of application that are important to us: customer relations, sales and marketing, supplier management, digital services, and financial services.”
Daimler and LBBW want to learn from the initiative to develop new business models using the distributed ledger technology.
Joachim Erdle, Head of Corporate Finance at LBBW, added: “Blockchain technology will change the role of banks as intermediaries in the economic process. We don’t want to merely observe this development; we want to proactively shape this field. The Schuldschein is especially well-suited for our entry into the use of blockchain technology. As the market leader for corporate Schuldscheine for more than a decade we have extensive expertise. In addition within this business segment we are able to generate substantial added value for our corporate customers and for investors because the process becomes more efficient and the processing time is significantly shorter.”
