Defined as the instant exchange of two assets that are linked, such that the transfer of one occurs only upon transfer of the other, atomic settlement breaks each complex transaction into its atomic components and settles them all simultaneously. All conditions must be satisfied before the transaction can complete. In other words, both payment and delivery must take place per terms set in the smart contract for settlement to occur.
Partior is focused on developing atomic settlement solutions for cross-border payments. However, the company sees itself as a network, not a payment or settlement system. It aims to improve the efficiency, reliability and security of digital clearing and settlement for financial institutions.
DBS, JPMorgan and Standard Chartered are using Partior to facilitate payments for their customers. Firms including Siemens and iFAST Financial have used Partior’s platform through Standard Chartered for what Partior describes as “better access and control of their working capital, 24x7 availability, and faster, more seamless payment flows.”
It is against this backdrop that in mid-July Partior announced it had raised US$60 million in a Series B round led by Peak XV Partners. The round was supported by Valor Capital Group and Jump Trading Group as new investors with JPMorgan, Standard Chartered and Temasek as existing shareholders.
Partior will use the new capital injection to develop new capabilities like Intraday FX swaps, Cross-currency repos, Programmable Enterprise Liquidity Management, and Just-in-Time multi-bank payments. The investment will be integral to Partior’s international growth and integration of additional currencies – such as the Japanese yen, British pound sterling, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and Malaysian ringgit. The Singapore-based company is currently live with only three currencies: the U.S. dollar, euro and Singapore dollar.
Shailendra Singh, managing director of Partior investor Peak XV, said in a press release that the company represents “an extremely ambitious attempt to transform global money transfer and settlement amongst banks” – and that’s where a bit of caution is warranted. Whether one thinks Partior will be successful depends largely on one’s perception of existing correspondent banking.
Is it so plagued with problems that it needs to be reimagined along the lines of blockchain rails? Is it necessary to tokenize correspondent banking?
That remains to be seen, as the benefits of a blockchain-based system would have to be significant to justify building new infrastructure when frictionless real-time payments are already possible through other non-blockchain channels.