On the 19th, we introduced one of our long-term holds – VEN (click here to read the complete analysis of VeChain), 5 days later, on the 24th, VEN and DNV GL held a Livestream to explore the details of their partnerships (click here to watch the conference). Additionally, on the 26th, VeChain disclosed another partnership with InfoCorp, a company intending to “bank the unbanked” in SEA (Southeast Asia) – the same geographical area and industry as OmiseGo.
VEN to partner with InfoCorp and its blockchain, Sentinel Chain, to Provide Cross-Chain interoperability.
InfoCorp is a company developing public and private blockchain solutions that aim at providing financial inclusion to the unbanked. The company has an ongoing trial with Maybank [modern_footnote]1[/modern_footnote], the biggest non-Singaporean bank by assets (4th total)[modern_footnote]2[/modern_footnote], with a presence in 10 SEA countries, to provide a cashless payment system to 16,000 immigrant workers in Singapore.
VeChain will enable one of InfoCorp’s project, Sentinel Chain, to publish livestock provenance data on to VeChain’s public platform – enabling insurers to check the public livestock provenance data. This may not sound ground-breaking to many people, however, according to KPMG, only 27% of the SEA population have access to bank accounts. The unbanked cannot access credit as they usually do not have any other collateral than their livestock. By being able to authenticate the livestock, those farmers will be able to use them as collateral for loans. See here for more about the benefits of insuring, tokenizing, and tracking livestock for farmers.
This is the first partnership that VeChain has disclosed in the SEA region as well as in the micro finance industry. The medium article ends by saying: “Partnerships with major financial institutions in Southeast Asia are in the pipeline to extend the value of this strategic alliance between VeChain and Sentinel Chain”.
Given the fact that Maybank is currently in business with InfoCorp, we wouldn’t be surprised if a partnership between VeChain and Maybank was announced at some point.
Ref: Maybank.com