How Blockchain Gives These 6 Industries a Competitive Advantage

All major organizations in the world use a centralized database to manage their sensitive data. Due to increasing cybersecurity threats around the world, keeping a centralized database is pretty challenging. Blockchain, on the other hand, is a different story.

Blockchain technology was introduced in 2008, but it recently gained a lot of traction mainly due to its amazing security features. There is no centralized database and a number of authorized computers or “nodes” are responsible for processing all the transactions. The information is updated and validated on all the nodes consecutively so there is no chance of corrupting the data. Several major industries are realizing its potential and they can have a great competitive edge with the implementation of this technology.

Legal

Different proceedings of the legal sector can be hugely improved through blockchain technology. First on the list is Smart contracts powered by blockchain. The clients who had an experience with these smart contracts have liked the convenience and rapidness it offers. These contracts can be created with little to no human intervention. They are created and available instantly and along with saving a lot of time, it will change the role of intermediaries in the law firms.

Land records system will be revolutionized through blockchain. The land ownership records will be instantly available and nobody with malicious intent could change the data. Finding the legitimate land deeds is a major issue in developing countries where paper trails go back decades. It will be convenient when the officials and owners have access to an easily verifiable public ledger at the same time which shows the current owners and exact dates of transfer.

Banking

Banks can benefit the most from blockchain. From the banking perspective, other banks, accounts, insurances, and exchanges can be accessed via a single platform. Users will also have all their sensitive transactions ran through a secure decentralized system which is more user-friendly.

Another great advantage will be instant transfers. Regular bank transfers can take up to 5 days due to several clearance procedures involved. When the information is available in real time to all the parties and officials involved, funds transfer will barely take a few seconds.

Blockchain can solve the problem of identity fraud in banks and similar financial organizations. According to a report, identity fraud cost banks between $16-20 Billion a year. This problem can be prevented with the help of blockchain identity system which makes background checks and credit checks easier.

Many banks are hesitant on shifting to the blockchain. They have been working with their current technologies for at least a decade and the employees are thoroughly familiar with the process. A complete shift in technology is somewhat scary for financial organizations.

Fund Administration

Fund administration is another industry riddled with legacy software and hectic routines to make the information consistent. All the documents are in the form of papers, PDFs, and spreadsheets. Sorting it all out by hand takes a lot of resources and man-hours.

With the help of a secure decentralized system and smart contracts, fund administration could save a lot in man-hours. When the administrators are able to show a report of expenses to the stakeholders or regulators in real time and every single change is consistent across all nodes, it saves a huge amount of time and money.

A scenario explained by Deloitte Investment Management, is that every client is assigned a verifiable trust id which is linked to all the financial information and history. When their new account registration is digitally approved, then a smart contract is triggered instantly. The smart contract takes much less time to go through and finally, an authorization or identity check is performed by the system. Upon success, the asset management or fund administrator account is created and the information is sent to the client’s cell phone. The fund transfer is also carried through the system, which is instant.

Information Services

The Internet is a necessity we heavily rely on these days. Shopping, travel plans, banking, business, and much more is preferred through the internet. All the top organization around the globe have an online presence. With all the advancements in technology, website creation has also evolved. What matters the most these days is the loading speed of a website. If it takes more than 1.5 seconds to load, it is slow.

Many pieces of research have shown that slow load speeds cause people to close the website. This factor is so important that Google has made it a requirement for a website to rank better in the search engine. While the developers try hard to reduce the load speeds to a minimum, there are still some factors which they cannot control.

With the help of blockchain, the problem of load speeds can be reduced to a point of extinction. Several personal computers and big servers sharing the bandwidth and storage resources can eliminate the problem forever.

Real Estate

Real estate dealings involve many individuals including buyers, sellers, agents, and brokers. The process of acquiring properties, contracts, agreements, title, and escrow is slow and tedious.

Blockchain can certainly help make the process less tedious. An apartment in Ukraine has become the first real estate transaction carried through blockchain. Some advantages of using blockchain in real estate include smart contracts, instant transactions, secure asset history, and owner reputation.

There are also the talks of using cryptocurrencies as payments. Several reports have suggested that all kinds of assets can be seen in the market which demands payments in the form of cryptocurrencies instead of regular money.

Escrow

Blockchain can entirely eliminate slow escrow transactions. Escrow is a slow process with intermediaries involved and things take time to happen because of the third party involved. Real estate is highly dependant on escrow, as well as several other industries.

Blockchain will be able to create instant, incorruptible, and accurate contracts without the need of costly escrow middlemen and help save time and money.

Conclusion

Possibilities are endless with the blockchain technology. It is only a matter of time when all these major industries will start using this technology on an organizational level. Failing to adapt to the technological changes can lead to catastrophic results. With the potential and promise it holds, blockchain is the future.