Two of Australia's largest and most iconic companies are rumoured to have teamed up on a secret project.
According to the AFR, banking giant Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and telco behemoth Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) are believed to have joined forces on a blockchain project aiming to add new levels of security for high-value transactions completed online.
The two parties are understood to have been working on the project for a number of months, with Telstra contributing many of its best coders to it.
What is the project?
The project is believed to be an electronic escrow service which uses distributed ledger technology (DLT) to give users additional guarantees when making transactions worth thousands of dollars.
At this stage it is unclear whether the project relates to a previously announced partnership which was revealed in February.
That partnership is a first of its kind in Australia and will bring technology providers and the financial services sector together in exploring 5G edge computing use cases and network architectures.
Telstra and CBA intend "to test end-to-end banking solutions over 5G – showcasing what the bank of the future might look like, and exploring how 5G edge compute can reduce the network infrastructure required at individual bank branches."
Examples include using your face and fingerprints to verify and confirm your identity faster and more securely, faster transactions when paying for your groceries at a wireless payment terminal, or a more secure, personalised experience when using an ATM by not having to use your PIN number.
Should you invest?
Whilst I think the two parties working together can only be a good thing for both the companies and consumers, I wouldn't make an investment purely on this news. But it could certainly be worth keeping a close eye on how things develop in the coming months and years.
