Secure storage and exchange of digital assets

What are digital assets?

Assets are property that add value to a company or person and can take the form of machines, immovable property and works of art. Assets can also be digital, such as a digital investment contract, which represents a sum of money, or personal data, which can be shared with permission. Digital assets also include cryptocurrency, which is a virtual payment method that does not fall under the control of a central bank or government but is accepted by society as electronically transferable currency. These are all types of property that can be stored, validated (valued) and traded.

A new role for the bank

With the arrival of new technologies, banks need to prepare themselves for a new role in society. We can play a role in non-financial assets or take on a different role in financial assets. Soon, we may no longer be needed at all in some areas. Take blockchain: the system whose first successful asset was Bitcoin. Contracts within a blockchain are self-maintaining, which eliminates the need for a third-party auditor. Since it is decentralised, this technology has the potential to reinvent the global transaction system, if not the entire financial system.

Tokenised assets by ABN AMRO

As a bank, we can contribute to the issue and storage of digital assets and the digitisation of 'traditional' physical assets. We call that 'tokenisation'. We are currently exploring how to issue various digitised ('tokenised') assets such as shares, bonds and investment funds. Trading tokenised assets is faster and easier than the traditional route because the process is more efficient and transparent and tokenisation increases the tradability of assets. Moreover, trading never stops: it continues 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. This makes it easier for both investors and issuers to get their foot in the door – even for the somewhat smaller parties.

Experimenting with Artificial Intelligence (AI)

In addition to blockchain and tokenisation, we are working on artificial intelligence (AI). Just like other banks, we see the opportunities that AI can bring. We are investigating how we can help our clients with AI and how employees can use it to serve clients better. For example, we want to know how our relationship managers can serve their clients more proactively using smart analytics. We are assessing the advice we give our clients and how we give that advice. Facebook Messenger could be an additional communication channel, for example. We are also automating time-consuming, tedious manual processes such as risk analysis and fraud detection activities by transferring them to computers. AI allows us to detect small changes in patterns, no matter how big the data pool.

Innovating together

Collaboration is the key to successful innovation, as it means we can constantly learn from each other. That is why we actively look for partnerships. If your organisation innovates within one of our three themes (innovative sustainability, digital assets and platformification) and you could use our strength as a bank, please contact us. We would be interested in exploring how we can join forces.