A consortium of payments and blockchain tech giants was recently launched under a new Provenance Council for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, tasked with facilitating improvements in supply chain management for exports between Australia and China. Featuring Mastercard and Alipay as members, the consortium is joined also by VeChain, a public blockchain integrated with a proof-of-authority and governance system as its core.
Australia announced its new national blockchain approach in early February after a year of planning, where efforts would be channeled towards improving Australia’s finance and wine industries. Blockchain integration efforts will be aimed at the tracking and verification of goods being shipped to China. According to a report by CoinTelegraph, Mastercard and Alipay will serve as payment processors for exports out of China and Australia respectively, while logistical information will be recorded and accessed on VeChain’s network.
The main benefit to the implementation of this new export system is the ease and flexibility of payments available to suppliers from both China and Australia. VeChain’s governance features allows it to easily create “milestone payments”, where payments are released only after a stage along the supply chain process has been successfully completed. Instead of having to pay a full lump sum, vendors can make smaller payouts and have the reassurance of their goods arriving at their destinations safely. Similarly, service providers will be paid instantly without having to month-end payments to clear.
Mastercard and Alipay are facilitating the instant payments process, where vendors can pay via credit and load a digital wallet with the necessary funds to be meted out once milestones are reached.
“The implementation of blockchain technology certainly contributes to buffering the immediate economic impacts of the pandemic for enterprises, and will help improve productivity by unleashing more resources and growth opportunities,” VeChain’s CEO Sunny Lu said.
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