Financial technology companies are working to improve behind-the-scenes market functions, such as exchanging securities and making lending decisions, saying the use of new technologies could help markets recover faster than they did in past financial crises.

New York-based Paxos Settlement Service last month became the first firm to use blockchain technology to settle U.S. stock trades, the process by which securities are exchanged for cash after two parties agree to a trade. The settlement process is more complicated than it sounds for big firms, where large amounts are being moved continuously.

And Fundbox, a tech firm in San Francisco, now uses big data to quickly evaluate potential small-business borrowers, saying it can make a lending decision within about three minutes, getting money to those who need it in a crisis. It recently launched a service that some described as PayPal for business credit.

The companies say these types of innovations will be crucial for helping financial markets in the U.S. and the world recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Component”undefined”is not configured. Paxos will handle deals directly between two major brokers, Credit Suisse AG and Instinet LLC. It’s an initial step that could presage a larger market adoption of the technology.

The brokers using Paxos are able to settle trades instantaneously from the opening of a trading day until 4:15 p.m., whereas traditional systems allow instantaneous settlement only up to 11:30 a.m., the company says.

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