Several big banks have found another use for the blockchain: identifying tags attached to traded things.

According to the Wall Street Journal, banks including Citigroup, Credit Suisse Group AG and HSBC Holdings PLC have started testing the blockchain technology—using a platform developed by start-up Axoni—to “share trade-reference data more accurately and efficiently.”

Blockchain, the technology underpinning bitcoin, makes use of cryptography to create a distributed ledger system, which is often used to hold and spend money in a more open, transparent and flexible manner compared to the traditional bank or credit card companies.

For this “experiment,” the blockchain will be used to create a ledger that parties can use “to track information, rather than maintaining their own, individual records.” The goal, according to the banks, is to reduce the costs of maintaining back-office system, which can be “complex, expensive and often troubled.”