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A major German bank has completed an end-to-end integration between SAP’s S/4 HANA business processes and the Corda blockchain platform provided by distributed ledger consortium R3.

Commerzbank, the FI in question, says this is “the first step toward enhancing the supply chain network of corporate clients to offer more efficient access to trade and supply chain finance services.”

The deployment of Corda to the SAP cloud platform opens up the possibility for the Corda platform to integrate other technologies and capabilities. These include API management, machine learning, and analytics.

The pilot project was overseen by Commerzbank, a member of R3’s global network and “an active participant” in several R3 initiatives.

“The successful connection test between Corda and SAP, as an important Enterprise Technology Provider, is a significant milestone in our journey to develop and implement digital product solutions,” said Nikolaus Giesbert, Commerzbank divisional board member for fixed income, currencies and commodities, trade finance and cash management.

“We will share the results of this technical test in our ongoing projects with R3 and aim to use the SAP connection with Corda in future pilot transactions.”

David Rutter, CEO and founder of R3, added: “Trade finance is a key area of focus for R3 as we work with our partners to develop a vibrant ecosystem of applications on Corda. Integrating the platform with SAP’s business processes is a further milestone in enabling widespread adoption of Corda by businesses around the globe.”

R3 ready to rumble

R3 has signed collaboration deals and finalised solutions with a number of major names in recent months. In April it placed Finastra’s Fusion LenderComm on Corda. The Corda platform is also now available on Amazon Web Services.

In March, R3 would have welcomed the news that a New York court plans to have a final decision on its ongoing feud with Ripple, after the latter’s latest appeal was denied.