The largest state-owned bank in Russia, Sberbank, is now working with a major local airline to introduce a Blockchain-based ticket system. S7 Airlines will work closely with Sberbank to develop a new ticket sales platform that will enable clients get instant settlement through smart contracts and tokens.
According to local daily, Kommersant, the new platform will be launched next month. The launch will go down in history as the first time virtual tokens have been used for payment and settlement in Russia. The system will only benefit corporate players at the start and maybe cover a wider range of people later. The system intends to cut settlement time from the current 10 days, to a remarkable 20 seconds according S7 and Sberbank.
The new system will be unique because it will utilize a proprietary Blockchain platform that will enable other companies develop their own Blockchain apps and smart contracts. S7 has already placed its Blockchain ticketing app on the Sberbank platform according to Kommersant. The bank will act as the platform owner and proceed to tokenize money from client accounts through smart contracts.
Though it’s not completely clear how tokenization will be implemented within this new agreement, an S7 executive has confirmed that tokens will be linked to client accounts. Linking tokens to client accounts will make it easy for travellers to use their tokens to pay for flights easily and conveniently.
The duo of Sberbank and S7 Airlines, have been involved in Blockchain development before. In 2017, S7 reportedly carried out the world’s first ever Blockchain-powered ticket purchase in collaboration with Russia’s largest privately owned bank, Alfa-Bank. By July 2019, S7 had processed over a $ 1 million in payments via the platform. Earlier this month, reports suggested that Sberbank was considering its own stablecoin-pegged one-to-one token to the Russian ruble.
Image Courtesy of Pexels
