Leading tech giant IBM has announced a blockchain project with Singapore-based fintech startup KYCK! to help enable financial services providers to more rapidly on-board their customers in a secure environment.

KYCK! is a first level KYC platform with remote on-boarding capabilities that raises the quality of first level KYC, at a higher level of convenience. It will be working with the IBM Bluemix Garage in Singapore to design and test the new solution to be built on the Hyperledger Fabric.

With this solution, KYCK! aims to provide brokerages a platform with video conferencing and encrypted document submission capabilities for the secure on-boarding of new customers. The platform also aims to provide enhanced identification validation through a trusted blockchain based business network that will potentially include banking and governmental entities. Once identity verification is confirmed, KYCK! will enter the customer's information into current bank-based checks or third-party KYCK! systems before account on-boarding.

"We were fortunate to have found a partner in IBM with the right capabilities to enable us to apply our financial industry know-how and bring our ideas to life. Working with the IBM Bluemix Garage, we have seen how blockchain can improve operational efficiency, increase transparency and reduce transaction risks. We hope that financial institutions will see an improvement in their current customer on-boarding processes and the overall customer experience," said Darryl Tan, Co-Founder of KYCK!.

According to the official release, the IBM Blockchain-based solution will be secured by the IBM High-Security Business network (HSBN) delivered via Bluemix, IBM's cloud platform. This in turn will enable KYCK! to handle sensitive data with additional levels of security that can help protect against unauthorized access and tampering.

"The application of blockchain is showing great promise across a broad range of business applications. It is a technology that establishes accountability and transparency while streamlining business processes”, said Alan Lim, Practice Lead, IBM Blockchain & Bluemix Garage, ASEAN. “Since we launched an IBM Bluemix Garage focused on blockchain in Singapore this year, we have seen more and more startups and entrepreneurs come through our doors with a curiosity and passion for how they can apply blockchain as a competitive differentiator. We have the privilege of working with the start-up community and the wider ecosystem to realize some of these ideas, and we are excited to see the impact of their work in their community and industry”.