Systems and methods for the application of distributed ledgers for network payments as financial exchange settlement and reconciliation

A system for processing network payments using a distributed ledger, comprising:

• a payment originator bank;
• a payment beneficiary bank;
• a peer-to-peer payment network, wherein the payment originator bank and the payment beneficiary bank are participant members of the peer-to-peer payments network;
• and
• a distributed ledger;
• wherein:
• the payment originator bank validates and processes a payment through a payment originator bank internal system and debits an originator account;
• the payment originator bank posts a payment instruction on a distributed ledger on the payment peer-to-peer network;
• the payment beneficiary bank validates and processes the payment instruction through a payment beneficiary bank internal system and credits a beneficiary account;
• and
• the payment beneficiary bank posts a final transaction confirmation to the distributed ledger on the peer-to-peer network.