FinTech firm FNZ, the global platform-as-a-service provider, has declared that the firm has inked a deal with South African FinSwitch, a “transaction switch” linking participants in the investment industry to render a novel blockchain-enabled administration utility for the South African fund management industry.

FinSwitch associates the Product Providers and Collective Investment Scheme Managers (ManCos). It connects market participants by offering a mechanism for data, like reconciliations, trades, and regulatory reporting, to move between multiple product providers and investment managers.

The association will allow trading, account opening, reconciliations, pricing, transfers,  regulatory reporting, sharing of instrument data, and more for FinSwitch clients. FinSwitch has over 140 existing consumers, including all significant fund providers and distributors in South Africa. These facilities will be delivered through a leading-edge, cloud-based, and blockchain-enabled application based on FNZ’s enduring and proven ChainClear ecosystem.

“FNZ was selected after a comprehensive and competitive tender process. We look forward to working with them to implement this solution, that will deliver significant value for our clients in the form of reduced cost, complexity and risk,” said Nick Baikoff, FinSwitch Managing Director in a statement.

FNZ’s ChainClear, a production blockchain ecosystem for the investment industry, is anticipated to use FinSwitch clients later in 2020. The solution leverages blockchain technology to substitute copies of transactions and holdings that choose the managed funds industry with a secured, verifiable source of ‘the truth,’ which all parties can completely access. The solution minimizes cost, complexity, and risk in back-office operations. The solution for fund administration in the Southern Africa region is required to implement additional functionality, resilience, and performance to FinSwitch’s functional and reliable solution.

“We are delighted that FinSwitch has chosen us to provide its blockchain technology solutions. Our mission as a business is to help people achieve their financial goals by reducing the costs associated with the investment. FinSwitch’s breadth and deep client relationships make it the ideal partner for FNZ as we expand and develop our offering to the South African investment industry and lower the barriers for retail investors in a maturing market.” said Hugh Evans, FNZ Managing Director, South Africa in a statement.

Founded since 2003, FNZ changes the way financial institutions assist their wealth management consumers. The FinTech associates with major financial institutions to allow them to provide multi-channel wealth management services to their clients over direct, intermediated, and workplace channels.