The Internet of Banking: how blockchain can revolutionize the banking system. An exploratory case study in the Italian banking industry: the Spunta Banca DLT project.

Abstract

The driver of this study is the growing interest in blockchain technology and its use to develop inter-organisational structures considered capable of ensuring important benefits such as system transparency, operational simplification, efficiency improvement, counterparty risk reduction and so on. Even though there is great enthusiasm for this topic, there are few projects that have been able to reach an operational phase by going beyond the experimental stage since the failure rate is very high. This research contributes to the current debate by empirically exploring the factors that determine success in the development of platform ecosystems using blockchain, and the main benefits and challenges. To achieve this goal, the research provides an in-depth analysis of the Spunta Banca DLT project, a project started in 2017 that implemented an inter-organisational platform based on blockchain technology within the Italian banking sector for the management of the interbank reconciliation process. Qualitative interviews were conducted with project participants to gain important insights into the platform development process and the use of the technology. Based on the findings gathered from the interviews, the main drivers that led to the successful development of the platform and the consequences in terms of the benefits and challenges of adopting the new system were highlighted.