The Sberbank’s collaboration with S7 Airlines, which is a member of the global aviation alliance, is another step towards stamping its commitment to innovation.
Blockchain-based tickets will soon be a reality for customers of S7 Airlines if the collaboration between Sberbank and the airline goes through. Sberbank is the largest Russian bank owned by the government. The latest proposition will enable corporate clients to make bookings through smart contracts the new ticketing system will be built on.
Kommersant, a local news media reported on August 26 that the token-based tickets will come into use by September 2020. According to the news media, although there have been the use cases for blockchain in the settlement in ticketing, this is the very first attempt by a Russian firm to do so.
S7 and Sberbank Initiative
The report stated that this arrangement will target corporate entities in the meantime. This stage of its development is geared towards reducing settlement time for users. This would cut down the processing time from 10 days to 20 seconds. The system to be used by Sberbank and S7 Airlines entails in-house development of proprietary blockchain applications that would enable smart contracts. The reports said that S7 Airlines would place its blockchain-based application of the ticketing system on the Sberbank chain.
The briefing didn’t state exactly how the tokenization process would work. However, according to a statement by a representative of S7 Airlines, Sberbank would act as the owner of the blockchain. The bank will provide the tokenization platform that corporate entities will link to. This will ensure that the accounts of such businesses are tokenized and balanced by the bank based on the funds available.
Blockchain Commitment
Sberbank has been in the news for its commitment to building its own blockchain. The bank’s collaboration with S7 Airlines, which is a member of the global aviation alliance, is another step towards stamping its commitment to innovation. Earlier this month, Sberbank was reported to have proposed developing its own stablecoin tied to the Russian ruble.
In 2017, S7 Airlines was responsible for the execution of the first blockchain-powered enabled ticket purchase. The airline had collaborated with Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest private bank in that deal. That chain has already processed over $1 million in payments by 2019.
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