Russian AlfaBank to Provide Services for Freelancers

Looking at the freelancing industry, we can easily see the impact of technologies on today’s world. One of the most attractive technologies for freelancers is blockchain technology. Today more and more freelancers are choosing cryptocurrency over traditional payment methods. The advantages of blockchain technology attract thousands of freelancers all over the world and people continue to join various blockchain platforms every day. As a result, blockchain startups try hard to take advantage of this increased popularity and attract more freelancers to work on their platforms. This is why it’s believed that nowadays blockchain is slowly taking the freelance economy.

AlfaBank’s plans for freelancers

Because of the increased use of blockchain technology, even private banks started to realize that they can actually benefit by offering freelancers blockchain platforms designed specifically according to their needs. The pioneer among them is Russia’s AlfaBank. It’s one of the largest private commercial banks in Russia based in Moscow. According to their latest announcement, the bank is in the middle of exploring blockchain technology and its services for freelancers. Now the company plans to use certain blockchain platforms in order to make services for freelancers and self-employed workers more convenient.

Specifically, the Alfa Group has decided to use Waves Enterprise which is a popular blockchain platform, and cover the registration and payment processes for self-employed people. The plan includes the processes of payment settlement, income registration, and tax payments. But most importantly, this new plan is considered innovative because according to the director of the research and development center of the AlfaBank, the service will give freelancers chances to get direct payments via any bank. They will use Distributed ledger technology (DLT) to implement this service which is really favorable as it provides an opportunity to effect automatic formation of payment instructions. As a result, it will be possible to make the direct transmission of payment instructions to any bank accounts or credit cards of freelancers.

It’s important to mention that this is not the first time that blockchain was integrated on a massive company's platform. Today many different types of companies are implementing blockchain technology into their platforms because they realize that people tend to find it easier to make transactions using cryptos. For example, crypto can easily be seen with online betting platforms, especially for people who place bets on eSport games in Russia. Blockchain technology is getting more and more widely used in gaming because it can actually bring significant benefits to this industry. For instance, eSports admirers usually take part in online tournaments which pose a high risk of getting defrauded. But blockchain can actually eliminate the risk of fraud as it provides a secure environment for gamers. Also, placing bets is more effective using cryptos because they give players a chance to win rewards anonymously with guaranteed security. Therefore, no wonder why it’s believed that blockchain is the future of eSports.

Benefits to freelancers

Blockchain-related services of Russia’s AlfaBank give various types of freelancers to take advantage of this system and among them are taxi drivers, tutors and repairmen. The new strategy consists of two distinct applications — “Alfa. Corporate” which is focused on enterprise and “My Income” which is a specific platform for individuals. Using the Waves Enterprise platform for this service is an essential part of the plan as it provides a secure data exchange between startups and the bank. Waves Enterprise which is considered as a primary instrument for AlfaBank’s approach is a technology company that was established in order to develop a hybrid enterprise blockchain platform that uses both private and public networks in its system. This platform provides data privacy and makes it easy to manage payments which is why it’s going to act as the main tool for AlfaBank’s approach.

The key features of this blockchain platform are data transparency and immutability and all these are pretty important to deliver the bank services efficiently to customers. As the officials say, this new approach will enrich the fintech landscape with new developers and this is why it’s especially beneficial for freelancers that are taking part in developing new technologies.

Success of AlfaBank

AlfaBank is considered one of the most successful blockchain-friendly banks in Russia. The services of this bank are truly innovative which makes it popular even among international customers. A month ago, early in November, the bank became the first Russian bank ever that joined Contour. It’s a distributed ledger platform that plays a major role in connecting the world’s giant financial companies, like ING, Citi, and HSBC.

Joining Contour’s platform is a big success for the Alfa Group because this network gives bank customers opportunities to follow processes related to trade finance transactions carefully without any operational costs. All this is possible by the means of blockchain technology. Therefore, AlfaBank is already using the blockchain but it’s not something new for the bank, as it has already been a member of R3, an enterprise software firm which is a leading blockchain consortium, since 2018. A year later, the bank tested cross-border payments between Russia and Germany using the platform of R3’s Marco Polo Network and this pilot turned out to be successful. Besides, AlfaBank attempted to launch a liquidity management service using Waves Enterprise.

Now if the above-mentioned plan will actually increase benefits for freelancers, the bank will probably become even more successful, resulting in gaining more customers and expanding its service worldwide. It’s expected that this blockchain-related service will be favorable for freelancers because it gives them the possibility to view balances on the e-wallets of clients that are looking to hire them. In this case, freelancers and self-employed people could know whether their clients actually have enough money to cover the costs for a project they are applying for. This is why more and more freelancers are choosing cryptocurrencies over other traditional methods of payment. Using blockchain for freelance platforms, many problems can be avoided in the freelancing field, including the currency exchange fees, need for middlemen, slow transactions, and many more. This advantage is the main reason why freelancers are so delighted with this new announcement of AlfaBank.

Image courtesy of Fyldeweb