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Interswitch, a payment processing company, has launched its blockchain-based supply chain service in partnership with Microsoft, an American multinational technology company. The service is also supported by three Nigerian banks, namely Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa and Guaranty Trust Bank, as well as Dangote Group. These institutions used the service during its pilot phase over the past months.

The blockchain service, built and hosted using Microsoft’s Azure blockchain technology, was unveiled on Friday in Lagos.

“The service aims to digitise the process between corporates and banks when providing trade financing to entrepreneurs and business owners in the supply chain sector,” said Akeem Lawal, Divisional CEO of Payment Processing at Interswitch.

He added that the service will streamline the process of accessing finance from three months to three weeks. With more entrepreneurs having access to financing, there will be business expansion, which in turn will create more jobs to drive economic growth in the country.

Don and Alex Tapscott, authors of Blockchain Revolution, define blockchain as an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.

Business benefits that will be provided by the blockchain application, according to Interswitch, include reduced fraud, eliminate intermediaries, grow revenue, create new partnerships, and allow businesses to expand into new markets.

“Blockchain technology is still in its infancy in Nigeria,” said Michael Glaros, Principal Program Manager of Microsoft Azure Blockchain at Microsoft. “We are happy to pioneer its deployment with Interswitch.”

Last month, Flutterwave, an online payment technology solution, also integrated it’s platform to Ripple Blockchain Network. Ripple is a global leader in enterprise blockchain.