SMU Associate Professor of Information Systems (Education) Enoch Chng was interviewed for a current affairs programme about the Fintech revolution, the hype behind blockchain technology as well as its implications and opportunities for the future of banking. Many processes today require a trusted third party to verify and document transactions, mainly to prevent fraud. This can be a time-consuming process in the time to go over the documentation before approval. Blockchain technology has the potential to cut through this process automating the third party verification step while still maintaining the integrity of the system through the use of computer algorithms. “There is no central governing body, so in that sense you can disintermediate (you don’t need the intermediary). So in the past where you need to go to a trusted person, now there is no need for that. It is just based on consensus, the different people, and the different computer,” Associate Prof Chng said. He also spoke about how blockchain could dramatically impact business dealings between legal entities, through smart contract.
[Featured Photo: Associate Prof Enoch Chng]