Automated Exception Handling for Treasury & Custody

Every transaction is timestamped, immutable, and traceable, creating a permanent audit trail. This enables continuous, real-time compliance instead of periodic, sample-based audits.

• Example: Financial institutions use this for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) tracking, reducing the cost of regulatory reporting by automating evidence collection.
• ROI Driver: Significant reduction in audit preparation time, external audit fees, and risk of non-compliance penalties.

Automated execution based on verified conditions (oracles) prevents fraud and non-performance. Funds or assets are escrowed in smart contracts until all conditions are met.

• Example: In real estate, a smart contract holds buyer funds and only releases them to the seller upon digital proof of title transfer at the registry, eliminating title fraud and escrow disputes.
• Business Impact: Lowers credit risk, reduces insurance premiums, and builds trust in multi-party transactions.

Automated, trustless settlement accelerates cash flow cycles. Suppliers get paid faster without intermediaries, while buyers benefit from extended payment terms verified by smart contracts.

• Example: A manufacturing consortium implemented a blockchain-based dynamic discounting platform. Suppliers chose early payment for a discount, automated by smart contract, improving buyer-supplier liquidity.
• ROI Metric: Measurable improvement in Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and Days Payable Outstanding (DPO).

The Pain Point: A delayed shipment triggers a cascade of manual emails, invoice holds, and legal review, freezing working capital for weeks.

The Blockchain Fix: A smart contract linked to IoT sensors automatically validates delivery against terms. Non-conformance triggers an instant, pre-agreed penalty payment and a new purchase order, all recorded on an immutable ledger.

• Real Example: Maersk's TradeLens platform reduced document processing and exception handling by over 20% for cross-border shipments.
• ROI Driver: Cuts dispute resolution time from 45+ days to minutes, freeing up millions in tied-up capital.

The Pain Point: Banks spend billions annually manually reconciling nostro/vostro accounts, with discrepancies taking days to resolve and requiring costly SWIFT investigations.

The Blockchain Fix: A shared, permissioned ledger provides a single source of truth for all transaction parties. Settlements are atomic (payment vs. payment), eliminating the mismatch that causes exceptions.

• Real Example: J.P. Morgan's JPM Coin provides real-time, multi-currency settlement for institutional clients, removing traditional fails.
• ROI Driver: Reduces operational costs by 30-50% for correspondent banking and eliminates reconciliation staffing needs.

The Pain Point: Complex claims (e.g., marine cargo, flight delay) require manual verification from multiple third parties (ports, weather services), leading to slow payouts and fraud risk.

The Blockchain Fix: Oracles feed verified external data (GPS, weather APIs) directly into smart contracts. A flight delay exceeding 2 hours automatically triggers a payout to the policyholder's wallet.

• Real Example: AXA's Fizzy used Ethereum to offer automated flight delay insurance, paying claims within minutes of landing.
• ROI Driver: Reduces claims processing cost by up to 70%, improves customer satisfaction, and drastically cuts fraudulent claims.

The Pain Point: Over 60% of Letters of Credit (LCs) are rejected on first presentation due to document discrepancies, causing shipment delays and strained supplier relationships.

The Blockchain Fix: A digital LC on a blockchain (like Marco Polo or we.trade) ensures all parties work from identical, version-controlled documents. Automated checks flag issues pre-submission.

• Real Example: HSBC and ING executed a live blockchain-based LC for a shipment of soybeans, reducing processing time from 5-10 days to 24 hours.
• ROI Driver: Eliminates document rejection fees, accelerates trade cycles, and improves capital efficiency for importers/exporters.

The Pain Point: Hospitals manually verify licenses, certifications, and malpractice history for every new hire—a process taking 3-6 months, delaying revenue generation.

The Blockchain Fix: Issuers (medical boards, universities) post verifiable credentials to a provider's digital wallet. Hospitals can instantly cryptographically verify authenticity without manual calls.

• Real Example: The State of Illinois piloted a blockchain system for nurse licensure, reducing verification time from months to minutes.
• ROI Driver: Allows new revenue-generating staff to start 90+ days faster, reducing temporary staffing costs and compliance overhead.

The Pain Point: Title searches are manual, and escrow holds funds for weeks pending clearance of liens and contingencies. Any discrepancy halts the entire transaction.

The Blockchain Fix: A tamper-proof title registry provides a clear provenance chain. Escrow is managed by a smart contract that releases funds only when all coded conditions (inspections, liens) are met.

• Real Example: Sweden's Lantmäteriet (land registry) has tested blockchain to reduce paperwork, fraud, and processing time for property transfers.
• ROI Driver: Reduces closing costs by 50%, cuts settlement time from 30+ days to a week, and eliminates title insurance fraud losses.

Solve the costly problem of mismatched patient records and billing codes across providers, insurers, and pharmacies. A permissioned blockchain creates an immutable, consent-based record of all interactions.

• Example: Streamlining prior authorization and claims adjudication between providers and payers.
• ROI Driver: Reduces denied claims (a $262B annual problem in the US) and administrative waste estimated at $265B annually.

Acknowledge the challenges to build credible business cases. Success requires:

• Integration Focus: Legacy system APIs are critical.
• Consortium Building: Value comes from multi-party adoption.
• Clear Governance: Rules for data and dispute escalation must be defined upfront.
• Start with a Pilot: Target one high-friction, high-cost exception process.