BBVA, Porsche Complete $170M Loan Via Blockchain

One of the largest banks in Spain, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), has completed a $170 million (€150 million) loan with Porsche Holding using blockchain technology, according to a report.

Although the bank has completed blockchain loans before, it’s never done it with a non-Spanish customer, until now. One of the bank’s previous blockchain loans was completed with state-owned and -operated national electrical grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE) for $150 million in November. BBVA also loaned $113 million (€100 million) to Spanish engineering company ACS.

The deal uses the same combination of public and private blockchain tech that BBVA used in its previous loans. In April, BBVA said it became the first global bank to do an entire loan using blockchain.

The REE loan was done on a Hyperledger-based network and completed with the help of three different funding banks (BBVA, BNP Paribas and MUFG) and two legal advisory firms. The unique document identifier for the contract was put on the Ethereum public blockchain.

Frank Hoefnagels, head of BBVA CIB in Germany, said the Porsche Holding loan was an example of using technology to expediently get the customer what they want.

“This transaction is all about putting blockchain technology into meaningful practice in the interactions with our clients,” he said. “Our aim is to improve clients’ experience by simplifying processes and enhancing the speed of execution.”

Blockchain’s use for lending with banks is becoming more common. U.K. bank NatWest said it would use a blockchain tech based on R3 Corda, which is an open-source blockchain platform.

The manufacturing division of Porsche is also getting in on the action: The company said it was going to be “the first automobile manufacturer to implement and successfully test blockchain in a car.”